Rock, Paper, Scissors: Love Beats All
by Rin Ebansu
Summary: .:CH16UP!:.Even if it IS with her, I want you to be happy. Strong words that erase InuYasha's confusion, give an odd couple a chance to develop true friendship, and transform two blood related enemies into brothers. What happens when evil interferes?
1. Chapter 1: Please Be Together

**DISCLAIMER:** _I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters. They were all created by Rumiko Takahashi and belong to her and her publishers/anime people. Look at me, getting all technical about it!_

**Chapter One:**_Please Be Together_

Kagome's eyes fluttered open as a faint breeze blew over her. She was lying on the ground for some reason. She sat up, confused—and even scared—before frantically whipping her head around to take in her surroundings. Then she seen her sleeping bag a few feet away and smiled as she let out a huge sigh of relief. She'd only rolled out of it during the night! She laughed to herself and put a hand to her forehead. It was easy to be a little paranoid when you were a modern-day girl living in the demon-ridden world of feudal Japan. Loads of demons set out to kill her on a regular basis—for some of them, that was their whole purpose for living—but, still, there were others who were kinder and wanted to protect her. There was InuYasha, for example. She smiled broadly and hugged her arms tighter to herself, suppressing the need to laugh out loud. She'd finally realized that she was in love with him a few days ago. She'd been in her era at that time and it was then that she understood her feelings for him. She was just so shy, though, that she couldn't work up the courage to tell him how she truly felt. But, anyway, that had been awhile back. Now, she was back with InuYasha in feudal Japan again.

At the remembrance of InuYasha, she looked up into the tree where he had decided to sleep for the night. But he wasn't there! Kagome's eyebrows furrowed in worry as she turned all around, looking for him. All she seen was Miroku and Sango, sleeping close to one another about a yard away. When she had looked everywhere that he could possibly have been in the campsite, she decided that he must have woken up before everyone else and decided to take a walk or something. But he never just left like that unless it was for something urgent! _Never_! Kagome felt her heart speed up. It almost killed her to think of all the times he had left. Every time he had left, it had been for...for...

Kagome shot to her feet and took off through the woods, leaving the peaceful campsite far behind her. She knew exactly where he was, if her suspicions were to be validated. She slowed down as she neared another clearing. She crept up to the edge, hiding behind one of the many enormous tree trunks of the forest, and peeked out at the Sacred Tree. She gasped at what she seen, despite that she had found just what she expected.

InuYasha and Kikyo were there together.

Her instinct had proven to be dead on, after all.

Kagome's vision blurred as she took the scene in. InuYasha was holding her to his chest, her hands flat against his fire-rat kimono, and his arms holding her close to him. She tried, but she couldn't look away. She didn't think she really wanted to. She was a smart girl…and she knew the best way to convince herself of the truth, was to see it for herself. No matter how much it hurt.

"InuYasha..." Kikyo spoke. Her voice was so gentle, so much unlike her usually emotionless tone. Her eyes were soft, as well. It was the same look. The _same_ look that Kagome had this morning! Kagome hugged her arms to her sides and shuddered with suppressed tears. It was the look of…true love. Kikyo sincerely loved InuYasha. 'It's true. I _know_ it's the truth…because—' Kagome felt as though an iron fist was crushing her heart as she admitted it to herself. 'I know Kikyo loves him because I feel the same way.' She closed her eyes to keep the tears locked away. "InuYasha, I wanted you to...to come to Hell with me..." InuYasha's eyes narrowed as he seemed to consider her words. Would he go? Or would he stay? Kagome couldn't be sure. "But I can't ask you that anymore. I can't because...I realize that I don't want you to suffer with me. I want you to be happy. Even if it IS with her, I want you to be happy." Kagome's tears finally broke free of their invisible barrier and flowed down her cheeks as her head snapped up to look at InuYasha and Kikyo. She looked at Kikyo, feeling a vague sense of understanding of how she had been transformed so greatly by the power of genuine love. InuYasha and Kikyo drew away from each other and looked into one another's eyes. Then InuYasha seemed to realize something. He broke eye contact with Kikyo and looked straight at Kagome. She hastily wiped her tears, knowing he must have smelled the salt when she started crying.

"Kagome..." he said, a surprised expression over his face. He took a step towards her and she took a step back. InuYasha looked as if he was about to run at her to keep her from going off by herself, but Kagome put her hands up in surrender and looked away.

"Don't. It's okay, really. You...love her." Kagome looked back at him sadly and gave him a weak smile. "And don't try to deny it. I saw it on your face. You were so happy. Like you were with me. Before." Kagome paused and her smile faded. "I know that you think that you love me, but it isn't true. You love Kikyo, the woman who I was created from. I'm only her reincarnation-just a branch of her. That's why you love me so much. Or think that you do." InuYasha looked shocked and opened his mouth to argue, but Kagome cut him off. "What you and Kikyo had was something really special. But it was brought to a terrible end. You were tricked into hating each other…but neither of you really did, did you? You two could never hate one another. Be together. Please..." Kagome looked at InuYasha pitifully, but half of the sadness she felt wasn't for his and Kikyo's broken love; it was for her broken heart. Though InuYasha might love either Kikyo or her reincarnation, Kagome only loved InuYasha...and there weren't any reincarnations that she could run to like him. She wouldn't be sad though. Not now. She had to smile and pretend everything was okay, so that InuYasha could be happy. She smiled cheerfully at the baffled InuYasha as he began to speak in a dazed tone.

"Are you...are you feeling okay, Kagome?" Kagome's eye twitched irritably as she fought the urge to yell, "sit" at the top of her lungs.

"I'm fine. Just-just promise me that you two will always be happy with one another. Never be fooled again. Not by anyone. Okay?" InuYasha held his confused expression for a few moments longer as he said,

"But I thought...that you loved me, too." Kagome took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was hard for her to say, but it made it easier when she remembered it was for the happiness of otherwise star-crossed lovers. 'Sound convincing…sound _convincing_…'

"Huh? Are you kidding? No way! You're way too obnoxious! That's no way of winning a girl's affections..." InuYasha's confused expression vanished as he smiled at her. He...smiled. Kagome's smile no longer had to be pasted on when she realized this. He never smiled like that. Never.

"Kagome..." Kikyo began as she came up behind InuYasha and laced her hand with his. InuYasha glanced down at it and smiled, then looked back at Kagome. "Thank you. I really mean it, Kagome. Thank you." Kagome nodded once, still smiling, though it was being pasted back on once again.

"No problem! I hope you two are together forever!" Kagome turned around and walked into the forest again.

"Kagome! Where're you going all alone?!" InuYasha's voice shouted after her.

"Um...home! Back through the well! I'll visit, promise!" Kagome broke into a run, but she wasn't quite sure if it was in the direction of the Bone-Eater's well or not. She kept running, tears flowing down her face at a remarkable rate, and eventually ran into a tree. The impact knocked her silly and she collapsed to the ground, holding her head. "Well, that certainly was stupid, Kagome!" She scolded herself. When she came back to sense, she drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. 'It _was_ stupid. It was the dumbest thing you've ever done! Why would you just let him go...?' Kagome rested her chin on her knees as she thought about it again. The image of InuYasha and Kikyo, before InuYasha had realized she had found them, flashed before her eyes for a moment. He looked so happy. It was then that she understood herself. 'I did it because I love him. Love makes people do stupid things...and it makes them hurt themselves.' Kagome buried her face in her knees and began to cry again.

"Human girl. The one that travels with my half-breed brother," a deep, silky voice stated. Kagome stopped crying as her head shot up to look at Sesshomaru, InuYasha's full-demon brother. She stood, brushed off her skirt, and turned to walk off in the general direction of the well without answering. She reached up and wiped her tears when Sesshomaru spoke again. "He's been with the clay-pot again. A suitable pairing for a half-breed..." Kagome stopped and clenched her fists in anger...but then she loosened them and took a deep breath. It wasn't exactly smart for her to disrespect this guy when she was out in the forest all alone without her bow and arrows. Without turning around, she responded in an even tone,

"For your information, I told him that I didn't mind him being with her anymore. There's no sense in them being apart now that they know the truth of what Naraku did, now is there? The only reason InuYasha was even staying away was because he thought that he was in love with me." Kagome stood up straight and finished wiping her face. She didn't turn around to look at Sesshomaru and began walking again. She wondered if her family would be back from their vacation at the hot spring resort yet. She didn't exactly want to come home to an empty house.

"How foolish humans are to cause themselves pain for people who care nothing of others. I trust that you sincerely believe that you are hiding your emotions well? How naive." Kagome bowed her head and began walking again. 'I'm so weak...so stupid and weak!' She suddenly heard rapid footsteps behind her and spun around with fear written all over her face. Sesshomaru was running towards her, drawing Tokijin as he went, and his face looked even more heartless than usual. She was going to die! Kagome took a few steps back and closed her eyes. Soon she felt excruciating pain jolt all though her body as something razor-sharp dug into her left side. She opened her eyes and seen Sesshomaru raise his sword and plunge it down towards her for a second strike. Everything went dark before the blade made contact.


	2. Chapter 2: Because You Won't Let It

**Chapter Two:** _Because You Won't Let It_

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"How foolish humans are to cause themselves pain for people who care nothing of others. I trust that you sincerely believe that you are hiding your emotions well? How naive." Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he stared at the back of Kagome's head that, as expected, bowed in surrender at his words. Humans fell so easily at mere words. He, himself, would never allow another person's simple utterances to distract him. Words were only words, after all.

Suddenly, a demon sprung from the darkness in front of Kagome, but as her head was bowed and she was so busy feeling sorry for herself, she didn't realize it right off. Sesshomaru turned slightly, intending to allow the girl to deal with the demon herself, and smirked when he noticed she was unarmed. She had left her bow and arrows someplace else. He was about to walk away when he seen Rin peeking out from behind a bush in front of the ravenous demon.

He felt something claw him from the insides as he flew towards the demon, drawing his sword—the one that was actually worth something. Rin looked around, seen the demon behind her, and leapt out of the way. She must have been too surprised to squeal. Kagome turned and seen him running towards her, his sword held off to the side, as the demon bounded towards Sesshomaru. And Kagome just stood there, staring at Sesshomaru like an idiot, as two ruthless demons came at her from either side. The demon bit into the dumbfounded human girl as Sesshomaru came within a foot of her. She collapsed to the ground as blood spread over her white blouse. Sesshomaru brought his sword up and plunged it through the demon, which roared out in agony as it died. Sesshomaru stared down at it with distaste before glancing over at the unconscious human girl. She was bleeding pretty badly. She'd probably die if he didn't do something soon. Sesshomaru turned around and started walking away from the corpse of the demon and soon-to-be corpse of the human girl.

"Sesshomaru-sama! We can't just leave Kagome-chan here! What if she...? What if she _dies_?!" Rin's voice squealed from behind him. Sesshomaru didn't stop walking as he replied,

"She leads a useless life, commanded by emotion and feeling. A human cannot live painlessly. Death is a welcome gift to her." Sesshomaru hoped that Rin would see things his way soon. He didn't like to disappoint her so much. Usually, she would get her own way before that.

"But, Sesshomaru-sama, she's so nice to everyone! I don't want her to—" Suddenly, she cut herself off with a high-pitched shriek closely accompanied with gnashing fangs and hungry growls. Eyes narrowing, Sesshomaru spun around and drew his sword, but hesitated as he took in the scene. Rin had not been attacked by a demon, as he had suspected, but had screamed for Kagome, who had awoken and threw herself in front of the slain demon's vengeful parent in order to protect Rin. Kagome was currently being held by her right side—the one that hadn't been injured by the demon's offspring—in the demon's jaws, unconscious once again. Sesshomaru sliced through the demon with ease and glanced to Rin for a moment, looking her over for any possible injuries. When he found none, he allowed his gaze to fall upon the injured Kagome. "Hn." She had protected Rin, though she was already badly injured and left for dead. He would look after her until she regained her health as compensation for saving the human child from certain death.

"Where is Ah-Un?" Rin pointed to where she'd been standing when the demon appeared. "Come, Rin. The human's injuries require treating." Sesshomaru bent down and lifted Kagome from the ground as carefully as he could with one arm...and frowned when he noticed her blood get onto his fluff.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama! Kagome's really nice! I hope she'll play with me when she gets better!" Rin said chirpily as she skipped over with Ah-Un following close behind. Sesshomaru draped her over the beast's hindquarters and helped Rin atop it before heading back down the road towards his castle.

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

Kagome's eyes winked open, but she sat up with a start when she noticed that where she had awoken was not their group's campsite. A jolt of pain erupted from either of her sides and she fell back on the bed, rigid, as she clutched her sides in terrible agony. It hurt so badly that she shook. It was almost too much to bear. 'What...happened...?' Kagome wondered through the pain that clouded her mind. A crystal clear picture of InuYasha and Kikyo popped into her head in response to her question, followed by Sesshomaru running at her with his sword. Then she remembered Rin and the demon. She still wasn't sure if the first injury of hers was from the demon or from Sesshomaru. She didn't remember seeing any blood on the demon's snout that had tried to attack Rin...but she hadn't seen any blood on Sesshomaru's sword after she'd gotten attacked either. There must have been another demon.

"You're awake..." Sesshomaru's voice met her from the shadows. Kagome jumped and her sides gave out another burst of pain, making her cry out slightly. She winced and looked over at Sesshomaru out of the corner of her eye.

"Why...did you bring me here? And you bandaged my wounds...?" Kagome looked down and ran her fingers over her bandages curiously. Sesshomaru stepped from the shadows and met her eyes without any expression whatsoever.

"You saved Rin. It might have simply been in your nature, but you were fortunate to have done such a thing. It saved your life." Sesshomaru turned to leave, but Kagome wasn't done with him yet.

"Wait!" Sesshomaru obeyed, looking back at her questioningly. However, his sudden consideration towards her and her requests had shocked Kagome so much that she completely forgot what she was going to say. Stunned, she relaxed on the bed and pulled herself together. "Never mind. Thanks for taking care of my wounds, even if it was a little reluctantly..." Sesshomaru studied her with vague suspicion before he turned around and walked to the door. But he paused as his hand touched the handle.

"It's strange, human girl..." Sesshomaru began. Kagome looked after him with a puzzled expression over her face, about to ask him what he meant was strange, when he finished. "I was under the impression that you would think unfavorably of me, being the despised brother of your half-demon companion. I'm surprised that you did not reprimand me for tending to your injuries." Kagome blinked. Why would she hate Sesshomaru? Just because InuYasha did? She had a mind of her own...most of the time.

"I only think unfavorably of you when you're attacking InuYasha or my friends. If you're helping me, why should—?"

"You saved Rin. My aid is a result of that deed. Nothing more," Sesshomaru interrupted icily. Kagome closed her mouth and struggled against a scowl. She was still a guest. If she were thrown out, she would have trouble getting around with such painful injuries. She stayed quiet. "Rin will visit you soon. She's asked about you during these past three days." Sesshomaru then left the room, quickly and quietly closing the door after himself.

Kagome almost sat back up again, but she caught herself just before she tensed. It didn't hurt if she stayed relaxed. 'I've been out for three days? Geez, I'm glad that everyone thinks I'm back in my own time. They'd be really worried right now, otherwise.' She closed her eyes and thought about InuYasha and Kikyo. How were they doing right now? Were they happy? Was InuYasha as happy as he was fifty years ago? Before Naraku destroyed their happiness? She sure hoped so. If not, then why on Earth had she let the one she loved go? She preferred to think that all was going well between them. She wouldn't allow herself to think anything less. A tear slid down the side of her face and dropped onto her ear lobe. He was gone, anyway. No matter how things ended up, he wasn't in that part of her life anymore. She soon fell into a deep sleep.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

Sesshomaru walked up the seventh flight of stairs and went to the third door down. Rin followed just behind him, humming quietly as she skipped after the demon lord. She was excited to see Kagome, of course, but he tried to keep an eye on her while she acted so carelessly so high up. After all, the seven-story hallway they were walking on didn't have a banister. One wrong move, and Rin would plummet to the stone floor below. Needless to say, he was thankful when he opened the door to the third bedroom and ushered Rin inside to visit Kagome. He stepped in as well, and closed the door behind him.

He stood under the cover of the shadows and watched as Rin approached the human girl's bed. Kagome appeared to have fallen back asleep again. He didn't think it likely that she would have perished after he had personally tended her wounds, but it was always a possibility. Rin reached over and nudged Kagome slightly, whose eyes fluttered open drowsily.

"Kagome-chan! Are you feeling any better? Thank you for saving me from that demon!" Kagome seemed surprised at Rin's loud, chipper voice and flinched as she tried to sit up.

"I'm feeling much better, thanks. Sesshomaru said that you've been wanting to visit me for a while now, so what would you like to do? I think that I have some crayons from my time, if you'd like to play with those. I brought them for Shippo, but he's got so many now that I don't think he'd mind so much if I gave you some." Sesshomaru watched as she reached around towards her back for something, but then sighed as she turned to look back at the hopeful Rin. "Sorry...I left them in my backpack at our campsite!" Sesshomaru found himself mildly disgruntled. He was somewhat curious to know what these "crayons" were.

"It's okay! I just wanted to give you this," Rin said cheerfully as she held out a doll made entirely of straw. "This way, you'll have someone you can talk to while your recovering from your injuries when you're all alone!" Sesshomaru found himself wondering how Rin's mind worked. Why would anyone talk to something that couldn't listen? Nonetheless, Sesshomaru was pleased to see that Kagome humored Rin.

"Thanks, Rin-chan! What should I name it...? Is it a boy or a girl?" Rin beamed at Kagome's enthusiasm and they talked for quite awhile before Kagome began to get drowsy. Sesshomaru stepped from the shadows and gestured for Rin to leave with him. Kagome had already fallen asleep by that time, clutching the doll—which had been declared a little girl named "Chisa"—close to her heart as she slept. Sesshomaru gave her one last glance before leaving the room.

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

When Kagome awoke, she was still hugging the little doll—Chisa—to her chest. She looked around the room for Rin or Sesshomaru, but they weren't to be found. She stared at the doll with a small smile before setting her down beside her on the bed. She sat herself up with some effort and leaned against the wall. She stared up at the ceiling and looked at an odd crack. It looked like InuYasha's puppy ears! She sighed and looked down at the doll.

"You'd better not start resembling InuYasha, too, or I'll have to ask Rin to take you back," she told Chisa. Chisa only looked back at her, smiling that same smile. She didn't reply, nor did she show any response—negative or positive—to what Kagome had just said. Not that Kagome really expected her to. "Personally, I'm _glad_ you can't talk. Sometimes, people need people like you, Chisa. You're just what I need—someone to talk to that won't get worried about me." Chisa stared back up at her blankly in response. Kagome smiled back down at her. Rin simply didn't know what a great thing she'd done for Kagome when she gave her Chisa; she'd given her a personal therapist! Kagome sighed, frowning at the straw figure. She supposed it was worth a shot. "Why do you think it hurts so bad, Chisa? Even after I've let him go and know that there's no more hope for us...? It's silly, isn't it? I should just forget love, shouldn't I?" Chisa kept right on smiling at her. "I knew that you'd agree." Kagome said, smiling broader. Then, she laughed. "I'm so strange..." She let her head fall back and it thumped against the brick wall. She hardly felt it. In fact, it made her giggle a little more. "Strange," she sighed. Staring up at the crack from before, she imagined the rest of InuYasha while she was at it. He was smiling just as he had when she'd told him to stay with Kikyo. She sighed and squeezed Chisa slightly. "Why won't this feeling just go away, already!" she shouted to the image of InuYasha on the ceiling; it instantly returned to being just a regular crack.

"Because you won't let it," came Sesshomaru's voice from the shadows. Kagome jumped and clutched her sides. Her eyes snapped over to lock onto Sesshomaru's.

"That's creepy! Don't you knock?!" Kagome demanded, blushing furiously.

"I believe that this is still my home. Why should I knock?" Kagome growled and was about to retort that he was _supposed_ to knock out of courtesy, when he spoke again. "The pain you feel won't subside, because you won't let it. Humans are so incredibly pathetic. They love others, even if the love is unreturned, and torture themselves with what could have been." Sesshomaru stepped up to her bed and picked up Chisa from Kagome's lap. "If you hold on to the feeling, you hold on to the pain. It's simple." Sesshomaru dropped the little doll and strode to the door with swift steps...but Kagome had to say it.

"There's nothing simple about true love, Sesshomaru. Someday, you'll understand that. Nobody who lives long enough escapes love." Kagome had smiled as she spoke, but when Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder at her, his face still expressionless, she realized that what she had said to the demon lord was unusually forward. Why would she say something so sensitive to the Lord of the Western Lands—the guy that Sango had secretly nicknamed, the "Ice Lord?" He held his frigid gaze against hers for a few minutes before pushing the bedroom door open.

"Love is for the weak and the humans. I am neither." Kagome picked up Chisa, still somewhat embarrassed, and stared at her smiling face as Sesshomaru left her room.

"Love makes a person weak in all sorts of ways, though. So he isn't completely wrong, is he, Chisa? If he falls in love someday, then he WILL be weak..." Chisa smiled knowingly and Kagome slipped back beneath the covers and closed her eyes. "That's what I thought you'd say..." The door closed the rest of the way with a loud "click" and Kagome winced.

Oops.


	3. Chapter 3: The Fate of the Shikon Jewel

**Chapter Three:** _The Fate of the Shikon Jewel_

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

"Human girl! Awake!" Kagome awoke all right! Sesshomaru was shaking her back and forth rather roughly and it felt as though her sides were being ripped open. Kagome shot to her feet and gave him a fierce look.

"My name's "Kagome," so if you can't remember that, don't talk to me! And another thing, I'm not exactly a morning person, so stop _yelling_!" Kagome shouted at the demon lord. Sesshomaru grabbed her by her shoulders and looked into her eyes with a furious expression. Kagome gulped. Had she gone too far?

"Have you seen Rin?! Did she tell you that she was going to go somewhere today?!" Kagome's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"Are you telling me that you lost a little girl in the middle of feudal Japan?!" Kagome smacked him upside the head. "BAKA!" Kagome went over to her bed and grabbed up Chisa, heading for the door of her room, but Sesshomaru stepped in front of her and blocked her way. "Get out of my way!" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her for a moment before his features went slack, void of all emotion.

"What are you planning to do, human?" He spoke in that same, flat voice as always, but Kagome knew that he was worried about Rin. Kagome clutched tighter to Chisa and said frantically,

"What do you _think_ that I'm going to do?! There's a little girl out there all alone, probably scared out of her mind or hurt! I'm going after her! I have to find her before some cruel demon does!" Kagome pushed passed Sesshomaru and started down the hallway towards the staircase. She felt Sesshomaru following close behind her and sped up, knowing that he was planning on grabbing her arm to further question her. She heard the quick rustle of clothing and knew that he was making a wild grab, so she dodged out of the way and reached out for the hallway banister as she continued down the hall.

But there _was_ no banister.

She felt herself slipping, falling over the edge to drop like a rock to the cold, hard brick below...but then Sesshomaru grabbed onto her elbow and yanked her back onto the hallway floor. Kagome turned around and looked up at him in surprise, but he only looked back at her with that same expression. "Thanks, but I can't sit around here explaining why we need to go after Rin, okay?! We have to find her! Please, let's just GO! Before it's too late!" Sesshomaru looked down at Kagome for a few more moments, obviously contemplating his decision, before he grabbed onto her wrist and led her down the stairwells leading to the colossal front doors. She followed close behind, glad that they were finally going in search of Rin. Kagome brought the hand that held Chisa up to her face and gave the doll a worried look. She hoped to find Rin, soon. The little girl was so innocent and sweet. As the doors were flung open by two demon guards, a fresh breeze and burst of sunshine met them. 'We're on our way, Rin. Just hang on a little longer.'

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

Sesshomaru stopped and looked behind him. Kagome had fallen to her knees and was clutching her right side; fresh blood seeped into her white blouse again. He couldn't understand why she was putting herself through such pain over a little girl that she hardly even knew. As he watched, she picked up Chisa from the ground where she had dropped her when the sudden jolt of pain had passed through her, and tried to stand upright once again. But when she tried, it only caused another pang to dart through her and she doubled-over once again, bringing the doll to her bloody side.

Sesshomaru looked away, somehow unable to watch her suffer. His new empathy was due to a certain amount of respect he felt he owed her. She was searching for the human girl that Sesshomaru had taken in as his personal ward. Searching for her to keep her out of harm's way. When she was undergoing such affliction for the sake of Rin, he considered her his partner—his teammate.

Sesshomaru's eyebrows furrowed irritably as he made his way over to help Kagome to her feet, not allowing her to make eye contact with him. She seemed confused at his gesture, but Sesshomaru paid her no mind and offered no explanations. He wasn't going soft; this was a one-time-only thing. He was only helping her because she was trying to find Rin. He turned his back to her and crouched down as InuYasha always had, feeling ridiculous even as he did so. 'It's only this one time. That wretched half-brother of mine can stoop to this level one-hundred times a day, but I will only do such a thing once in my lifetime.'

"Don't misunderstand this. I will carry you upon my back today, but know that it won't ever happen again." He stared ahead at the path and frowned a deep frown. He truly despised this.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks anyway, though," was her reply, to Sesshomaru's great surprise. Kagome then walked around him and began limping up the trail, leaving Sesshomaru crouching in the dirt. Sesshomaru scowled at her as she continued up the path. This was absolutely undignified! Sesshomaru leapt to his feet and, charging at Kagome with his full speed, dipped beneath her and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before quietly continuing up the trail. He smirked to himself in self-satisfaction. That was better. "Hey! Let me down! I said that I could walk on my own!" Sesshomaru looked behind him at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Hn. You were crawling," he scoffed lightly. "Your injuries were holding me back and further jeopardizing Rin. You should be grateful that I've lowered myself so much as to pack a human over my shoulder." Sesshomaru looked back ahead of him and began scouring the forest off to the side of the trail, trying to catch Rin's scent.

"And that's another thing! I don't like the idea of my butt being in your face, if you don't mind!" Kagome wriggled a bit, but then cried out. "And your armor is too sharp! Put me down, already! You're doing more harm than good! How am I supposed to be searching for Rin if I'm just slung over your shoulder the whole time!" Kagome slid forward and landed on her palms behind him, doing some sort of flip to land on her feet. She clutched her side when she was standing upright again and winced, but she didn't limp anymore. "Sesshomaru! We have to find Rin, so stop goofing off!" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow as the irate woman. Goofing off? When had he, Sesshomaru, ever goofed off in his entire life? Sesshomaru was about to argue the point in his usual cool, off-the-shoulder manner, when Kagome suddenly froze, staring at some sort of bee. "Oh no..." Sesshomaru walked up beside her and looked at the bee with her, not understanding why she seemed so worried about it.

"Afraid of bugs," he stated calmly, beginning to walk ahead without her. Now who's goofing off?' he thought to himself half-heartedly.

"It's Naraku's poisonous insects. Saimyousho. Rin..." Kagome's voice became a trembling croak. "She might have been kidnapped by Naraku." Sesshomaru quit walking, his eyes narrowing.

"Naraku?" Sesshomaru questioned, but then he shoved the question away. Kagome was watching him, waiting for direction. It felt like a stare. A sudden movement from Sesshomaru's left hand shot his golden Poison Whip forward and exterminated the saimyousho. He began determinedly striding down the path, ignoring the fact that Kagome hadn't even flinched at his attack. "We must find Naraku and retrieve Rin immediately." Sesshomaru heard Kagome running to catch up with him, but then a rough voice suddenly emitted from the darkened trees off to the side of the trail.

"Sesshomaru, brother of InuYasha. And Kagome, reincarnation of his beloved miko," the voice chuckled softly. Sesshomaru rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. He felt Kagome's hand rest on his shoulder as she hid herself behind him. He felt a strange sort of satisfaction that she felt he would protect her.

"You are Naraku, are you not? Have you abducted Rin?" Sesshomaru demanded in a flat tone. The voice quit its soft laughter and spoke again,

"Yes, I am called Naraku, born of the man called Onigumo. I have taken the human child you refer to as Rin hostage, in order to exchange her for the partial Shikon Jewel that Kagome wears about her neck." Sesshomaru felt Kagome's grip tighten on his shoulder and looked back at her out of the corner of his eye. Kagome reached up and grasped the jewel at her throat, her eyes growing stern with determination before she gave Sesshomaru an inquiring look. She was asking him for his opinion? Why? "You see, I have the remaining shards in my possession and I'd like very much to have my desires fulfilled as soon as it is possible. When you've decided to cooperate, go to the lake on the southern branch of your lands, Sesshomaru." Naraku's face appeared among the blackened branches and he grinned at them. "I'll give you some time to mull over your decision...but I do warn you, I get very unpleasant when I have to wait for something I want. I might just have to entertain myself with that pesky child's screams of pain and terror." Kagome's eyes went wide and her grip on Sesshomaru's shoulder tightened to the point that Sesshomaru was sure her fingers would break at any moment under the pressure. The demon lord's face took on an unusually enraged expression as he drew his sword and sent a blast of energy into the forest towards the apparition of Naraku's sneering face. The pale visage vanished, but the words it had spoken didn't fade in the least.

"Sesshomaru. The jewel doesn't matter to me or InuYasha anymore." Kagome had already taken the jewel from her neck and was staring at it as she held it in the palm of her hand. She looked up at Sesshomaru, a helpless look in her eyes. "I'm trapped. If I don't give the jewel to Naraku, Rin will...will..." Kagome looked off into the trees where Naraku's face had appeared, watching the broken branches as they swayed in the wake of Tojikin's attack. Suddenly, she looked back to Sesshomaru. "But if I let Naraku have the jewel and he completes it, then I don't know _what_ will happen. His plans for the Shikon no Tama are still unclear to me and the rest of our group." Kagome looked down at the jewel and then wrapped her fingers around it.

"..." Sesshoumaru stared at Kagome's clenched fist for a moment before shifting his gaze down the trail to stare into the open distance.

"I don't know the right choice anymore!" She looked at her fist with severe concentration. "What do you want to do, Sesshomaru...?" she asked softly, her head still bowed. "Do you want to give the Jewel of Four Souls to Naraku or..." She clenched her fists and squared her shoulders before snapping her head up to look him in the eye. Sesshomaru was surprised to see such strong resolution in her coffee-brown eyes. "Or do you want to fight this guy with me?" Sesshomaru's face was still expressionless as he looked off to the side at the hole Tojikin had made in the forest wall. His brows knit slightly.

"Hn. It's a rare occasion that the same filth crosses me twice." It was a moment before Sesshomaru felt Kagome take his hand, making him look down at their joined palms uncomfortably. He didn't appreciate such forwardness from human women. Before Sesshomaru could shape these thoughts into words, Kagome placed the Shikon no Tama in the palm of his hand and folded his fingers over it.

"I don't want this anymore. I can't protect it and..." Kagome's head was bowed again and she still hadn't let go of his hand. Sesshomaru felt something strange as he looked down at the back of her head. Was it pity perhaps? Kagome looked back up at him, smiling sadly. "And I trust you. I don't think that you'd let it fall into the wrong hands and you're the only one I know in the entire world--literally--who has no desire to use it." Sesshomaru put his hand over hers and kept steady eye contact with her. She seemed to grow a light pink shade, but he couldn't be sure.

"I understand." Sesshomaru resolutely locked his gaze to her coffee-brown eyes, she doing the same, for some time after that before Kagome suddenly jumped and pulled her hand away from Sesshomaru's. His hands began to ice over, it seemed, once her warm touch was withdrawn. His eyes narrowed. "We must go. Now." Kagome and Sesshomaru began walking down the trail again, but then Sesshomaru suddenly swooped Kagome up onto his back in one swift motion. This time, she didn't protest. Perhaps it was because she understood that time had suddenly become of the essence--or maybe it was something else entirely--but all the same, there were no arguments raised at Lord Sesshomaru's gesture.


	4. Chapter 4: Changed

**Chapter Four:**_Changed_

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

Kagome's eyelids felt heavy with fatigue as she rested against Sesshomaru's back; the constant reopening of her injuries had greatly diminished her energy. Still, she struggled to remain conscious. She couldn't just sleep when Rin was in such danger! Her eyelids snapped closed and she began to panic as all thought started erasing from her mind. After considerable effort, she managed to pry her eyes back open again.

"Sesshomaru, let me down, please," she murmured in a faint voice. She couldn't risk herself falling asleep when Rin and Sesshomaru were counting on her. She wondered if they would be passing any villages soon, so that she could purchase a bow and a quiver of arrows.

"You are weak. Rest." Sesshomaru replied flatly, not even pausing as he continued up the trail. Kagome shifted her weight slightly, intending it to be a sharp wriggle to indicate that she was serious, and began to tumble to the ground. Luckily, Sesshomaru was quick to balance her weight out again. "I refuse to tolerate your defiance, human! You will rest." Kagome slumped over, all of her energy drained from her at last. The word "rest" instantly destroyed her resolve to stay awake, somehow.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru..." she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck to hold herself steady as she fell into a deep slumber. She couldn't even manage to stay awake long enough to see if Sesshomaru had responded in some way.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"Thank you, Sesshomaru..." he heard her whisper as she brought her arms to coil about his neck, her body falling limp with exhaustion the moment she finished speaking. Sesshomaru had, unbeknownst to himself, been extremely tense while she was riding upon his back. Now, however, after she had so inexplicably and so unexpectedly thanked him, he felt more relaxed somehow.

He looked straight ahead of himself, his face a peaceful blank, and concentrated on their destination. They were about twenty miles away from the lake so they'd probably make it there before sunset, if Naraku would give them that long. He thought of Rin and Kagome talking to each other that day when Rin had visited her in her room. When he remembered Rin giving Kagome the doll, he smiled without even realizing it. Kagome seemed to care a lot about the little girl. What sort of feeling was it that humans harbored that could be as strong as what Kagome seemed to feel for Rin? It was so powerful that Kagome could withstand great pain and great fear, if only to keep the little girl from harm. He smiled again at the remembrance of Kagome laughing with Rin during their visit with each other back at the castle. Why was he suddenly acting so strange...? Why was he feeling such a pleasant sensation? He felt like laughing out loud, as smiling seemed to be too weak of a gesture! What was happening to him? Had he been stung by Naraku's saimyousho without realizing it? Was this a reaction to the poison, perhaps?

"Sesshomaru! What did you do to Kagome!" the most annoying voice in all the world demanded. Sesshomaru looked up the trail a few yards and, upon seeing his half-breed brother bounding towards him, felt the unexplainable smile begin to fade from his face. However, it didn't vanish fast enough and his brother caught it with ease. "You...You were...You were actually SMILING, Sesshomaru! What did you do to her? Answer me!" InuYasha had made it close enough to his brother to land a good hit on him if Sesshomaru would allow it, but InuYasha wasn't thinking about attacking the demon lord at the moment, but was focusing on Kagome. "She's bleeding! What the Hell did you do, Sesshomaru? So help me God, if you DID anything to her, I'll rip your rotten heart right out of your chest!" Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he looked down at his over-imaginative brother.

"If you are meaning to ask if I enacted a deed worthy of the human male that travels with you, then no. Unlike yourself, I don't pair myself with humans. And I most definitely do not pair myself with dead ones." InuYasha seemed surprised for a moment before stepping back from Sesshomaru with a loathesome scowl over his face.

"Sesshomaru, what are you doing with Kagome? Why is she injured?" The monk--his name was Miroku, Sesshomaru was nearly certain--asked from some ways behind InuYasha. He was running up the trail with the demon slayer named Sango. Sesshomaru took a moment to consider whether or not to tell them, before deciding that it was senseless not to. He opened his mouth to begin, but before he could, he caught sight of a yellow insect buzzing just next to InuYasha's left puppy ear. Sesshomaru shut his mouth and looked at the bee inquiringly before understanding.

"Saimyousho. I see, then. The poisonous insects are Naraku's spies, aren't they?" Sesshomaru looked over at his brother and seen that he was clearly confused...but he soon reverted back to his usual hot-headed self.

"What does that have to do with anything? I want to know what's wrong with Ka--Yargh!" InuYasha jumped out of the way as the bee zipped over to Sesshomaru, hovering right before the demon lord's eyes. He understood.

"You can safely report to Naraku that we are on our way." The saimyousho immediately darted off into the open blue at Sesshomaru's words and left him to face his brother and his friends' curious questions. But they didn't seem to be curious, for some reason.

"So, Naraku took Rin, am I right?" Sesshomaru gave his brother a lethal glower at his words, but InuYasha only looked off to the side with a worried expression over his face. "I was wondering how he'd get Kagome to hand over the jewel." Sesshomaru gave InuYasha a questioning look, but his brother wouldn't look back up. The demon lord looked over to Sango and Miroku instead to demand his answers.

"Explain why he knows that Naraku has taken Rin." Miroku stepped forward, intending to speak, when Sesshomaru felt Kagome shift upon his back. "Hn..." He turned and set her on the ground, propping her up against one of his legs as he looked down at her. "Awake." Her eyes began to flutter open.

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

When Kagome opened her eyes, she was on the ground with her back up against Sesshomaru's knee. She looked up at him inquiringly. He seemed so worried...but why?

"Sesshomaru...? What's...wrong?" she began uncertainly. But then a horrible possibility went through her head. "Oh no! Is it Rin? Did we get there too late?" Sesshomaru's eyes widened just slightly at Kagome's sudden shout, but then he put a hand atop her head and sighed.

"No, we haven't arrived. Calm down and greet InuYasha before he explodes from jealousy." Kagome gasped and peered around Sesshomaru's broad form. Beyond the fluff, she seen InuYasha's shocked face.

"InuYasha! Naraku kidnapped Rin! You have to help us save her!" was the first words out of her mouth. His face instantly became sour as he crossed his arms. She then remembered Kikyo. It was as unexpectedly thought of as breathing, but the image of Kikyo and InuYasha staring deep into one another's eyes appeared before her eyes. She smiled sadly at the remembrance and looked behind InuYasha for the woman she was reincarnated from. All she seen was Miroku and Sango. "InuYasha, where's Kikyo...?" InuYasha looked off to the side, his face suddenly taking on a truly depressed expression. Kagome smacked a hand to her forehead. "If you guys had a fight already, then I'm going to kill the BOTH of you!" InuYasha turned and began to walk off down the trail.

"I've gotta get going, Kagome. Good luck with the Rin thing," he said quietly as he walked on down the path. His voice seemed so unlike his usual self. What was going on with him? She stared after him, watching his platinum hair dance with the wind. His left ear twitched. What was going on...? Why was he so upset?!

"InuYasha! What's wrong? What's happened? Unh!" Kagome shouted after him, sharply sitting herself back upright and causing a bolt of pain to shoot through her. She collapsed back against Sesshomaru again and looked down at her side. Her wound had reopened again and blood was spreading over her already blood-soaked shirt. She sighed. She looked as though she'd been on a battlefield.

"Kagome..." She looked up as Sesshomaru spoke so gently. 'He actually used my name for once. I wonder if he realizes that...?' The tone threw her off and she felt herself feeling a little embarrassed. She blushed and forced herself to relax against his knee.

"I'll be okay. I'm feeling loads better, now. I think I'm already starting to heal!" She smiled up at him cheerfully and he brought his arm--his only arm--around her back and gripped her behind the knees as he rose. He'd picked her up with one arm and her butt wasn't even in his face this time! She smiled broader. "This is way better than being slung over your shoulder! Why didn't you just do this before?" she demanded in a playful tone. Sesshomaru smiled down at her and she laughed. "Hey, I didn't know your face could move that way!" Sesshomaru's face twitched a few times before he burst out laughing with her.

"Okay, I'm a big kid! You can tell me; I can take it," Shippo's voice came from the ground in between Sango and Miroku. Kagome and Sesshomaru stopped laughing and looked down at him curiously as he finished. "The world is coming to an end, isn't it? I mean, it's really coming to an end!" Kagome blinked and looked around at everyone, thinking about the events that had occurred over the last week or so. Kagome had blatantly given InuYasha and Kikyo her blessing, Kagome was comfortably sitting in Sesshomaru's arms, and Sesshomaru had just laughed out loud for the past thirty seconds without even having to lose his mind to do so! Kagome smiled at Shippo.

"I see your point. Everything has changed, hasn't it? It...it is a little strange." Shippo hopped up onto Kagome's lap, giving Sesshomaru an apprehensive look--Sesshomaru only turned away, pretending that he hadn't seen Shippo. "What's going on, guys? Why is InuYasha acting so wierd? Where's Kikyo?" Miroku's expression became hard and cold.

"The same thing that happened to Rin, I'm afraid. Naraku stole Kikyo away so that she could make the jewel whole again with her holy powers." Kagome turned to ice and Shippo hopped down. He must have sensed Kagome's sudden fury. This couldn't happen to them! Not after they'd come so close to achieving their fairytale ending! Kagome shut her eyes tightly as she felt the tears beginning to sting. She wouldn't let this happen to them! Not ever again! Naraku had already destroyed their first chance at love. She WOULDN'T let him destroy their second!

"Sesshomaru..." Kagome said in a low, steady voice, slowly opening her eyes to look up at him. He looked down at her without any expression at all. "Will you please...help save Kikyo?" Sesshomaru and Kagome looked directly into one another's eyes, Kagome's expression was of determination while Sesshomaru retrieved his usual poker-face. In any other circumstance, Kagome would have considered this a competition, but for whatever reason, it didn't feel that way to her. Not this time. Sesshomaru closed his eyes and, when he reopened them, he was looking at InuYasha. Kagome smiled up at him.

"InuYasha, I propose that we temporarily join forces in order to conquer Naraku and safely recover those whom we've lost. This pact will only be offered once." Kagome tensed and looked at InuYasha. Would his pride get in the way of accepting his brother's help?

"InuYasha..." Kagome began softly. InuYasha turned around after a few moments and looked directly at Kagome.

"I'll do it." InuYasha didn't look at his brother, but at Kagome, as he answered. "I'll help you get Rin back from that slimeball." Kagome understood. He could live with his decision to join forces with Sesshomaru only if he thought of it as doing his brother a favor. 'But why is he looking at me like that...? He should be looking at Sesshomaru, shouldn't he? It's like he's answering ME, for some reason...' Kagome shook the thoughts away and smiled at InuYasha.

"Great! Then we should get going as soon as possible!" Kagome hopped down out of Sesshomaru's arms--erm, arm--and landed on her feet on the ground. A surge of pain coursed through her body and she felt something splash over her legs. Had she landed in a puddle? She didn't have a chance to look, however, as everything suddenly went dark. The last thing she remembered was many familiar voices yelling her name.

_**InuYasha's Point-Of-View**_

"I'll do it." InuYasha looked into Kagome's coffee-brown eyes and felt that sense of connection that he used to feel with her. It was the same sense of connection that he felt with Kikyo, as well. "I'll help you get Rin back from that slimeball." He continued to stare into Kagome's eyes after he'd spoken, trying to ignore the fact that she was in Sesshomaru's arms and not his. Why was he feeling this again? Why was he feeling this strange happiness for Kagome again? He was getting confused again, too; like before, when he was faced with the decision between Kagome and Kikyo. Kagome smiled at him, making InuYasha's heart leap. He felt his face warm slightly. Did anyone catch that? He looked out of the corner of his eye at Sango, Miroku, and Shippo. It didn't look as though they were paying attention to him. He let out his breath and looked over at Kagome again. Sesshomaru, he saw, was looking at InuYasha inquiringly. 'Of all the people, please tell me that HE didn't see that!' Sesshomaru turned back to Kagome, his face still expressionless. 'I HATE that. You can never tell for sure what Sesshomaru's thinking...'

"Great! Then we should get going as soon as possible!" InuYasha blinked, confused for a moment, before remembering that he'd just agreed to help save Sesshomaru's kid. He really hadn't been thinking of helping the little human girl, though, when he'd said he'd help Sesshomarui save her. He hadn't even been thinking of the help he'd receive in getting Kikyo back from Naraku. He was thinking...he was thinking that he'd be able to stay close to Kagome. He hadn't missed her when she was gone, he was sorry to admit, because Kikyo had been with him the entire time. But now that Kikyo had been abducted, he couldn't stop thinking about the modern-day version of the miko.

InuYasha snapped back to reality as Kagome leapt down out of Sesshomaru's arms. But then something happened that made his every limb become as rigid as stone. As she landed on the ground, the impact caused her wounds to open up and blood gushed forth and splattered down her body and over her legs. She looked down, clearly confused, and then began to stumble.

"KAGOME!" he heard himself shout, along with the rest of the group...even Sesshomaru. InuYasha took a shaky step forward, looking at Kagome with wide eyes as his heartbeat slowed so much that it almost stopped completely. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo were already running over to her, but InuYasha could hardly move. It felt like his body was shutting down as he watched Kagome fall back. He wanted to catch her...to catch her and to make the bleeding stop. He took another step forward, but it was all in slow-motion. Kagome fell, fell, fell...and then, an arm came back behind her and brought her to Sesshomaru's chest. InuYasha's heart froze in time when he seen that. Sesshomaru and Kagome...seemed so...looked like they were...but it wasn't, somehow. Nothing was making sense to InuYasha now. Nothing at all.

The world came rushing back to the half-demon now and he felt everything return at full-speed. He took a few steps towards Kagome and Sesshomaru, but didn't go any further. What was he going to do? How was he planning to help her? He couldn't help her. 'But I have to try. It wouldn't be right...if I didn't try.' InuYasha slowly made his way over to her and knelt down in front of his brother, resting his hand on her forehead. He slid his eyes over her until he came to her wounds.He took off his fire-rat kimono jacket and folded it into a long, thick bandage. The cloth was made of durable cloth--the strongest cloth in the forest--so it had to do something to slow down her bleeding, didn't it? It was a long shot but... InuYasha took the cloth and wrapped it around her abdomen, tying it as tight as he could around her wounds, but leaving it loose enough so as not to constrict her breathing.

"It seems to be working..." Miroku said, relieved. Shippo had nudged himself under her limp arm and was looking at her with open worry. Sango looked like she was getting hit hard by this. She seemed close to tears. InuYasha could see why, of course. Kagome was her closest friend; it wasn't like Sango had anyone else but this wierd group. Her family had been murdered, thanks to Naraku, so other than InuYasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo, she had nothing. Even her own brother was under Naraku's control and tried to kill her every time he caught sight of her. Miroku saw Sango out of the corner of his eye and slid his hand into hers. Sango closed her eyes and bowed her head, allowing her bangs to cover her eyes; a tear slid down her face and landed on Shippo's head, who looked up at her sadly.

"We'll rest tonight," Sesshomaru said suddenly, making InuYasha look at him in surprise.

"What about Rin? I thought you'd want to get her back as soon as possible," he said, watching Sesshomaru as he picked Kagome up off of the ground. "Go on and run off after your kid, already! Kagome's been doing fine without you for the past year; we can take care of her wounds without your help." InuYasha crossed his arms and put his nose in the air defiantly. Out of the corner of his eye, InuYasha saw Sesshoumaru's expression turn steely as his older brother examined Kagome's palid features.

"I've allowed Kagome to over-exert herself. We'll rest tonight," he repeated, not looking at InuYasha. He began walking up the trail, InuYasha and the others following some ways behind them. One thing InuYasha had learnt over the past fifteen minutes was this: the feudal era had become more confusing than the modern this week.


	5. Chapter 5: The New Sibling Rivalry

**Chapter Five:**_The New Sibling Rivalry_

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

Sesshomaru was sitting on the ground a little ways away from the fire, brooding over his ignorance. He shouldn't have allowed her to accompany him in his search for Rin. After all, it hadn't even been her responsibility in the first place. He knew that she was too weak to travel, but he had permitted her to come along because of her extreme worry and fear for Rin's safety. All of this...was his fault. It was due to his negligence that Rin had been kidnapped and to his half-second of weakness that Kagome was now walking the thin line between life and death.

Sesshomaru looked down in front of him at Kagome's dark head and his eyebrows furrowed. He could feel her rapid, shallow breaths as she rested up against him. How long did she have left? Was her will to live strong enough to carry her through her injuries? Sesshomaru felt her shiver suddenly and gritted his teeth. 'She's lost too much blood to warm herself properly. Even the fire isn't helping her at this point.' Sesshomaru brought his fluff around and covered Kagome's entire upper body with it. She quit shivering and her breathing became more steady. Her hand shifted ever so slightly and rested on the fur draped over her lap. Sesshomaru reached out and placed his hand over hers. It was ice cold. 'She'll die, at this rate.' Kagome sighed deeply before her breathing became more rapid and fainter than ever before. Her face looked flushed, causing Sesshomaru's face to form a pained expression. Why was this happening...? Why was he feeling such...feeling such torment over the human's misfortune? Why? He was the Lord of the Western Lands, wasn't he? Demon lords didn't feel human emotions, did they? Kagome gasped suddenly and whimpered for a few seconds, her face contorting in agony. Sesshomaru grew rigid as he stared down at her convulsing features, his eyes widening ever so slightly, before her breathing returned to the fast, speeded breaths he'd come to consider normal. Sesshomaru felt his tense muscles droop with fatigue and rested his forehead atop the crown of Kagome's head, relieved. He'd thought that, just a moment ago, that it had been the end of the girl. 'If demon lords feel no emotion, then what should I call myself?'

"She'd never let you do that if she was awake, you know," InuYasha's voice chided from atop a tree branch a yard or so away. Sesshomaru's face became expressionless once more as he lifted his head from Kagome's dark hair. He looked straight out ahead of himself at the open forest that lay just beyond Miroku, Sango, and Shippo; the three of them were watching Sesshomaru and InuYasha with avid interest.

"Are you saying that she would refuse my aid in sustaining her life?" the older brother asked in a flat tone. He didn't feel up to an argument with his younger brother tonight. If it had been any other night, had he not been careless with the human girls he had taken responsibility for, then Sesshomaru would have already drawn his sword. But that wasn't the case and Sesshomaru wished only to evade his brother's pathetic antics.

"Don't play stupid, Sesshomaru. We both know you're smarter than you look." InuYasha paused for a moment, obviously waiting for some sort of response from Sesshomaru, before going on to explain himself. "I meant that she'd never let you get so close to her like that if she was conscious. Kagome doesn't think of you that way and I can't even BEGIN to imagine what's happened to make YOU feel that way about HER." Sesshomaru turned slowly and looked up at his younger brother with cold eyes. What had he meant by that exactly? Feel what way about Kagome?

"I'm not your depraved monk, InuYasha. Be advised against making such ludicrous suggestions. Kagome asked to come with me to find Rin, so I am doing my part as her guardian to keep her from harm while she rescues my ward. There's nothing more to our relationship." Sesshomaru turned back around and leaned against the tree; Kagome followed, her back flat against his chest as she continued her struggle to keep breathing. What was he going to do?

"That's not what I meant by your feelings for her, Sesshomaru. But if you're still denying it, I'm not doing you any favors." Sesshomaru closed his eyes wearily, trying to ignore the pesky half-demon that he was forced to believe he was related to, and Kagome jerked her head to the other side as she began to pant heavily. Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright.

"Ses...Sesshomaru..." she murmured. Sesshomaru felt his face begin to burn. Why was she...saying his name while she was unconscious...? "Rin...Inu...Yasha..." Sesshomaru's face cooled down. She was worried about everyone, that was all. Even as she suffered so much, she was still thinking of others before herself. He couldn't understand human beings at all. If he'd been in such a situation, he wouldn't have thought twice about anyone but himself. An image of Kagome and Rin laughing together back at the castle caused Sesshomaru to wince. Or would he? There may have been a time before when that would have been the truth...but then Rin showed up. Of course he would care for her safety above his own. And as long as he was the only one who knew that, he didn't mind admitting it to himself. He stood up, gently laying Kagome back against the tree he'd been lying against, and looked back at InuYasha.

"Keep a close eye on her or you'll die a long and gruesome death." Sesshomaru then disappeared through the trees and towards the only person who could possibly bring Kagome back to health.

_**InuYasha's Point-Of-View**_

"Ses...Sesshomaru..." InuYasha about fell out of his tree. Did Kagome just...did she just pant Sesshomaru's name...in her sleep? He gulped. Just WHAT in Hell was Kagome dreaming about exactly? "Rin...Inu...Yasha..." InuYasha let out a long breath as he leaned back against the trunk of the tree. 'Geez! How is it that she can scare me half out of my damned mind even when she's out cold...?' He stared up into the blackened tree branches of the tree he sat in and seen Kagome's face...or maybe it was Kikyo's? What did he care? It was an image that he had no qualms about confessing his love for any longer. 'Kagome, did you really mean it...? Did you really mean it when you said that you didn't love me?' He stared at the vision among the tree branches as it changed to Kagome's tear-stained face. He remembered it from when she'd first come upon him and Kikyo at the Sacred Tree. 'No...I suppose you hadn't meant it, after all. I wish you had, though. Because now I'm left with the same decision all over again.'

"Keep a close eye on her or you'll die a long and gruesome death," Sesshomaru's voice drifted up to him. InuYasha leaned over just in time to catch Sesshomaru's eye before his older brother vanished into the night. That was wierd. InuYasha had thought that he'd seen...some sort of spark in the demon lord's eye. The hanyou had seen that spark many times before when he caught his reflection or looked into Kikyo's eyes, but surely it couldn't be the same thing! He'd only been pestering Sesshomaru earlier, of course. He hadn't REALLY believed that his elder brother was...was in love with...

InuYasha, still stunned, looked down at the tormented form of Kagome, his fire-rat kimono top still wrapped securely about her mid-section. 'Sesshomaru can't love Kagome; Sesshomaru can't love ANYBODY! And he wouldn't be caught DEAD making eyes at human girls!' InuYasha huffed and leapt from his branch to sit next to Kagome. He looked at her curiously, his face a foot away from hers, and observed her breathing. It was becoming shallower. He noticed that Sesshomaru had left his fur wrapped around her. It looked to InuYasha that he'd be back...unfortunately. InuYasha plopped down next to Kagome and leaned up against the tree with her. 'Stupid girl. Why can't she ever just stay out of trouble?' He reached down and squeezed Kagome's icy hand; she whimpered in her sleep. 'Sesshoumaru in love with Kagome,' InuYasha thought, shaking his head, 'No way...no way in Hell...'

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"A demon! There's a demon in the village!"

"Run for your lives!"

"Save the women and children! Inform the priestess at once!"

Sesshomaru quietly continued through the village as about twenty villagers stampeded to the opposite end of the little town, glancing back at the expressionless Sesshomaru fearfully. He came to a hut and slid the door back. Inside sat an old woman wearing an eyepatch over her right eye.

"Ye are the brother of InuYasha, are ye not?" Sesshomaru looked on at her, not responding as of yet. He truly hated that ridiculous accent of her's. The vision of the dying Kagome flashed before Sesshomaru's eyes.

"The reincarnation of your older sister is presently bleeding to death in a clearing a mile and a half north of here. I request your aid in saving her life." Sesshomaru didn't even blink as he spoke. His voice expressed no emotion, even a faint rise or fall in pitch, and Kaede appeared to be taking a page from his book as she responded.

"Take me to her at once. Ye shall explain what has happened to the girl on the way." Sesshomaru's face remained an immutable blank at her suggestion, but as Kaede quickly gathered herbs and bandages together to treat Kagome, the demon lord knew that he would tell her all he knew.

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

Kagome slowly returned to consciousness. She knew that she was waking up because she began to feel again. She felt something soft and warm next to her face and it smelled strangely pleasant. It was a familar scent and she felt her face tighten with a big smile as she nuzzled against the soft material. She sighed and her eyes fluttered open. She didn't move yet, but she could tell that she was lying on the ground; she seemed to be at some sort of campsite. It was nighttime. She instantly sat upright and stared around the campsite with wide eyes.

"Oh no! Rin!" Kagome began to stand up, but she felt a hand on her shoulder and followed it to the golden eyes of Sesshomaru. She put her hand over his, her face contorting in insane worry. "Sesshomaru, please! What about Rin! You just decided not to go after her because I was hurt? Naraku's probably tortured her out of her mind, by now! I can't believe that she's having to suffer because of my weak--!" Sesshomaru dropped down next to her and drew her towards him. Kagome gasped, her eyes wide, as she felt herself instinctively relax as he held her.

"She'll be fine, Kagome. You have nothing to worry about. Naraku won't harm Rin for fear of losing our cooperation in handing over the jewel." Kagome sighed and collapsed against Sesshomaru's chest out of both relief and exhaustion. What had happened to her exactly...?

"Yeah! You're still recovering, Kagome, so you should just relax!" Kagome pulled away from Sesshomaru and turned around to look at Shippo. He was wearing that tough-guy expression that he always wore when the going got rough. "Don't worry about Naraku! We can take care of him!" Shippo said as he threw himself at her chest. Kagome reached up and caught him in a hug. The green-eyed kitsune had always been fond of Kagome and the human had always felt a sort of motherly instinct over the bushy-tailed fox boy.

"What the Hell? WHO'S handing WHAT over to our sworn ENEMY?" InuYasha's familiar voice demanded from about two feet behind her. Kagome twisted around to look up at him with a weak smile.

"InuYasha," she began, but fell prey to an inconvenient coughing fit at that exact moment.

"Kagome!" InuYasha shouted, taking a step towards her. Sesshomaru clutched his hand tighter over her shoulder to hold her steady as the fit came to an end. When she pulled her hand away from her mouth, she seen a small puddle of blood in the palm of her hand. She winced at it, disgusted. Sesshomaru was looking at her hand with something of distaste before bringing a bowl of water up suggestively. Kagome washed her hands in the bowl and Sesshomaru set it back off to the side. Kagome took a breath and shakily got to her feet, turning to look at InuYasha.

"We aren't REALLY giving him the jewel, you moron! We're just acting like we--unh--we are so that he won't hurt Rin, okay?" Kagome slid her hand down to her right side as a small bolt of pain zipped through her. Luckily, it didn't hurt as bad as before. She noticed with horror that something was different now and looked at InuYasha as a panicked expression overcame her features. "Where's your jacket?!" She looked at him with fright, worried that something terrible had happened while she was unconscious, before glancing down at her abdomen expectantly. It wouldn't have surprised her to see that he'd used it as some sort of bandage for her.

Her wounds HAD been re-bandaged, but the only red she seen, to her slight disappointment, was a few spots of blood where her wounds had opened up a little more. The bandages had been wrapped tightly and neatly--more expertly, was Kagome's first impression--and her thoughts on the workmanship was strengthened when she seen a few herbal leaves poking out from behind the bandages every now and then. All of a sudden, a new possibility darted across her mind. She slowly rose her head to look at InuYasha, her face inquiring. He crossed his arms stubbornly and looked pointedly off to the side. Kagome followed his gaze curiously and realized with delight that she'd been right.

"Kaede! Ugh!" Kagome had did a sort of leap into the air when she seen Kikyo's little sister, but when she'd landed she felt a shock of pain course though her abdomen and felt her knees buckle for it. She was caught by a pair of hands and turned to look up at Sesshomaru--but it wasn't Sesshomaru. It was Sango. She helped her stand back up and then they smiled at one another.

"I'm glad you're alright. You scared me for a little while back there. You scared all of us, actually. Even the Ice Lord couldn't keep up that indifferent facade, could you, Sesshomaru?" Kagome turned around for a moment to look at Sesshomaru, who met her eyes for only half a second before turning around and walking into the shadows. If Kagome didn't know any better, she'd think he was one of the bad guys. He always fled to the shadows whenever the opportunity arose.

"Sango?" Kagome turned back to look at her best friend after a few moments. "Sango, what happened to me? Why's Kaede here?" Sango smiled and looked over to the old woman.

"Why not let her tell you for herself?" Sango said with a smile and a coy glance in Sesshomaru's direction. InuYasha gave out a noise of disgust. Kagome looked from Sango to Sesshomaru to InuYasha with a genuinely confused expression before looking to Kaede.

"Has everyone here lost their minds, Kaede?" Kagome smiled as Kaede nodded her head in all sincerity.

"That may be the most resonable explanation..." she said, a bemused tone overtaking her voice that made Kagome smile. The old woman's face suddenly became grave and Kagome could tell she was about to tell her why everyone was acting so wierd all of a sudden. "I hadn't known that ye were dying until Sesshomaru came to ask my help in treating ye. He came to my hut tonight and asked me to come here and save ye life." Kagome blinked and looked into the trees where Sesshomaru was standing, though he was well-hidden among the thick darkness. 'I was...dying? And Sesshoumaru saved me?' Kagome frowned, thoughtful. "That is why everyone is acting so strangely, Kagome. Sesshomaru not only compromised his pride, but he compromised it for ye. A human." Kagome turned around and looked to Kaede, blinking in sincere puzzlement.

"What's so strange about Sesshomaru wanting to protect someone?" she asked, making InuYasha look at her as though she'd just grown a truly repulsive second head.

"Two points come to mind at that question: One, he's Sesshomaru. Two...he's friggin' SESSHOMARU! Did you forget that already, or did you hit your head too hard when you got attacked or however you got so messed up?" Kagome gave him a look of daggers, but he still held his determined expression. Kagome shrugged.

"Sit." InuYasha head-butted the ground and Kagome turned back to the rest of the group. "InuYasha's a demon, and he protects me all the time. Rin's a human, but Sesshomaru has protected her ever since they've met. You all think it's so strange that he cared enough to ask for help to keep me alive, but _I_ think it's strange that you're all thinking that way." Everyone looked at her in open disbelief and Kagome blushed and laughed nervously. "Heh-Heh, so I guess that I'm the wierd one now? I guess I can't really blame you..." She smiled more comfortably and looked around the clearing at all of her friends as, one-by-one, they shut their gaping mouths. "After all, I probably would have thought the same if I hadn't been travelling with him this past day or so." Everyone looked to one another with curious expressions, but Kagome had gotten really tired all of a sudden and sat back down next to the tree she'd woken up beside. She looked to her right and seen the fire-rat cloth. "Hey! I found it!" Kagome picked it up and balled it up, throwing it at an astonished InuYasha, who had just managed to drag himself up out of his crater. He caught it, but was looking down at it like it was cursed. Kagome scratched the back of her head anxiously. "Sorry. It looks like I might have gotten some blood on it..." InuYasha looked at her like he was about to say something, but then he closed his mouth and looked off to the side. Kagome stared in mild bewilderment at the strange expression over his face while he turned and walked out of the clearing, disappearing into the darkness. 'Now I'm SURE they're related...' Kagome thought slyly as she layed back on the ground, closing her eyes. She felt her back lay up against something soft and remembered the pleasant-smelling material that she'd woken up against. She opened her eyes and brought some of it around. It was Sesshomaru's fluff! She looked off into the darkness where Sesshomaru had gone, curious for a moment, before smiling. He hoped that he would recognize it as a silent "thanks." She turned over to her side and covered herself up with the fluff, falling into a deep sleep where she dreamt of floating on clouds. Sesshomaru's fluff was actually very soft...

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"What's so strange about Sesshomaru wanting to protect someone?" Kagome asked, causing the demon lord to turn back to face her from the shadows. He had been determinedly ignoring the whole group of ignorant humans, halflings, and cowardly demons since the dead priestess' sister had spoken of his so-called "compromised pride." They thought they understood everything. They thought that they were the most intelligent beings on the planet. But they didn't know anything about why Sesshomaru did what he did. He hardly did, himself, for that matter. All he really knew was that he wished to keep her safe, just as he wished to keep Rin safe. Sesshomaru caught an amusing scene out of the corner of his eye and turned to better enjoy it. InuYasha was gaping at Kagome like the witless fool that he was and obviously trying not to choke on his tongue. Sesshomaru watched the spectacle for a few more moments before InuYasha finally found his voice.

"Two points come to mind at that question: One, he's Sesshomaru. Two...he's friggin' SESSHOMARU! Did you forget that already, or did you hit your head too hard when you got attacked or however you got so messed up?" Sesshomaru almost felt like laughing out loud when he seen Kagome's furious face. He knew what happened whenever his little brother made her angry...and it was always highly entertaining for Sesshomaru. He watched as Kagome shrugged and uttered the single most beautiful word in the world.

"Sit." Kagome said casually as she faced the group. InuYasha did a fantastic face-plant in the rockiest patch of forest floor within the camp, making this night the best Sesshomaru had lived through for a very long time. Sesshomaru fought the urge to smile, his face was twitching horribly in his efforts. How did this happen to him? Why couldn't he control himself as he had in the past? Smiling and laughing wasn't exactly part of his daily regiment. He'd felt happy and amused many times, of course--all living beings did--but he'd always been able to keep it to himself. He'd always been able to lock it deep within himself to where only he would know the emotions he was experiencing. Why couldn't he do that anymore...? Why was he having such trouble stifling his manic laughter? And why on EARTH was he grinning like a lunatic?! Sesshomaru suddenly sobered as Kagome began to speak. "InuYasha's a demon, and he protects me all the time. Rin's a human, but Sesshomaru has protected her ever since they've met. You all think it's so strange that he cared enough to ask for help to keep me alive, but _I_ think it's strange that you're all thinking that way." Sesshomaru stared at her as her friends began to look at her as though she'd lost her mind. He didn't exactly know how he was supposed to react to this. What was she doing? Why was she taking up for him like this...? Kagome began to laugh nervously as her face turned pink under her friends' astonished stares. "Heh-Heh, so I guess that I'm the wierd one now? I guess I can't really blame you..." As Kagome's smile became softer and more like herself, Sesshomaru leaned against the tree and smiled as well, curious as to what she might say next. "After all, I probably would have thought the same if I hadn't been travelling with him this past day or so." Her friends all looked to one another curiously as Kagome turned her back to them and made it back to the tree where Sesshomaru had sat with her while she was unconscious. He pushed himself back up from the tree. 'Surely she doesn't think that I was carrying her and forcing her to rest because I was WORRIED about her. She's my ward, just as Rin is. Our relationship doesn't go beyond that...' Sesshomaru's eyebrows furrowed in deep confusion as his subconscious drew up old memories of Rin bringing him crowns of flowers and fishing in creeks as he watched over her. She smiled and laughed and seemed to think that he was the best person on the earth. It was as though...it was as though she thought that... Image after image of Rin skipping and twirling next to him on various pathways zipped through his mind. 'It's as if she's adopted me as her father.'

Sesshomaru's eyes fell to the grassy forest floor as he frowned. Sesshomaru now realized that such had always been the demon lord's idea of his and Rin's relationship. She WASN'T just his ward, but more like... 'My daughter.' Sesshomaru gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in rage towards himself. How did this happen? Why hadn't he ever noticed this before? And if he had failed to notice such a thing once already, then who was to say he wouldn't make the same mistake again? No. What he was really worried about was how he was to be sure that he wasn't MAKING the same mistake again.

"Hey! I found it!" Sesshomaru was torn away from his unusually deep and emotional thoughts as Kagome suddenly called out. Wondering just what it was that she had found, Sesshomaru looked up just in time to see her throw InuYasha the scarlet kimono jacket that the hanyou had been given by his human mother. InuYasha snatched it out of the air and stared down at the maroon spots that had been left on it from Kagome's blood with something of mingled horror and fury. Kagome seemed to think he was mad at her, or something to that effect, because she instantly apologized. "Sorry. It looks like I might have gotten some blood on it..." InuYasha's head shot up to look at Kagome, who was scratching the back of her head nervously, and opened his mouth to say something...but then he closed it again and looked off to the side of himself with a pained expression over his face. Sesshomaru noticed his grip tighten on the fire-rat kimono jacket. Sesshomaru watched his brother in mild curiosity as he turned and vanished through the trees, leaving the demon lord to sort him out. InuYasha had appeared to grow indignant when Kagome had mentioned her blood getting on the jacket. So, perhaps he had wanted to tell her that he was the one who had tied it around her abdomen to keep her from bleeding to death? Sesshomaru sensed a touch of self-satisfaction stir within him. It was a likely probability. And when he'd suddenly looked away, deciding not to tell her after all, that was because he felt guilty at feeling the need to claim credit. Sesshomaru looked up into the tree branches and seen the crescent moon shining brightly in the black sky. He knew that there was one other reason that his pathetic hanyou of a brother had decided against telling Kagome the truth of how his jacket had been soaked through with her blood. It was an ignorant reason...and petty. InuYasha was having a sort of relapse and believed that he was in love with Kagome. Now that Kikyo was out of the picture again and all that was left was Kagome, why not return to her and confess his "true" feelings? This idea made InuYasha feel guilty, however, so he had kept quiet tonight. But he'd tell her eventually, Sesshomaru knew, if Kikyo wasn't rescued soon enough for his liking.

Sesshomaru looked back down from the moon and over to Kagome, whom he was surprised to see was looking straight at him with a smile. She was holding his fluff in her hand. She turned around and wrapped herself up in it, falling asleep again. Sesshomaru smiled. He was glad that SHE appreciated the gesture, at least, because, upon retrospect, he was feeling a little ridiculous for doing such a thing. 'I need to rescue Rin soon. Otherwise, I'll be faced with another emotional attachment.' Sesshomaru loathed admitting it, but he wouldn't be as foolish as to deny the fact. Kagome was growing on him. He gave out a little "hmph" before turning to stride further into the forest. He needed a walk...

_**InuYasha's Point-Of-View**_

InuYasha sat on the branch of the dead tree and crossed his arms stubbornly. What was Kagome and Sesshomaru up to? Were they trying to make him jealous or something like that? He could believe it out of Sesshomaru, his evil full-demon brother who wished for nothing more but to watch him die slowly and painfully, but Kagome? No. There was no way that Kagome would do such a terrible thing. Besides, why would she need to make him jealous when she openly gave InuYasha and Kikyo her blessing? She said herself that she wanted him to be with Kikyo. But InuYasha knew that she really had loved him when she said it. So why? Why would she tell him to be with another woman if she loved him so much? InuYasha knew that Kagome was the type of person who thought of just about everyone but herself, so it wouldn't surprise him all that much to learn that she'd done what he had so that he could be happy with the woman he loved. 'So that's why she was so upset when she found out about Kikyo being kidnappped by Naraku. She told me that she didn't feel anything for me so that I wouldn't have to choose anymore. I get that much, but... but what now? Now that her plan hasn't turned out the way she expected, what's she thinking?' Then it all clicked. It was so simple! 'She wants me back! Now that Kikyo's gone, she knows that she's the only one in my life now! That's why she was trying to make me all jealous about Sesshomaru and her earlier!' It couldn't have been more perfect, in InuYasha's eyes. She really had him going there for awhile! He did wonder how she got Sesshomaru to play a hand in the whole thing, though. Maybe his brother was in on it for the fun of torturing his younger sibling? She must have known that he was still watching her from the shadows when she snuggled up to that ratty fur-thing that Sesshomaru always wore. That was it. And so she thought she'd get under his skin, was all. InuYasha smirked and put his hands behind his head.

"Girls! They think they're real smart. I see through your little plot, Kagome..." InuYasha said to the crescent moon in front of him.

"Plot...?" the deep, annoying voice of his older brother came from the ground below InuYasha's tree. He growled irritably.

"Why're you eavesdropping on me like that?! Get lost!" InuYasha shouted as he glowered down at Sesshomaru's indifferent features. Sesshomaru looked up at the moon and said quite casually,

"I wouldn't be eavesdropping if you weren't talking to yourself..." InuYasha started, embarrassed that his brother had gotten the best of him on that round. The hanyou calmed down and leaned back against the trunk of the tree, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "What plot do you think Kagome has devised, InuYasha? You seemed to be quite maddened by it, whatever you might have been thinking." InuYasha growled deep in his throat before regaining his composure. He opened an eye and looked down at his brother.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I was just thinking of how desperate Kagome must have been feeling to fall back on YOU of all people." Sesshomaru slowly turned his head to face his brother, his face still expressionless. InuYasha could tell that he'd hit something, though, so he continued. "I'm not worried about her all that much, really. She's not as stupid as most girls; she's bound to realize she's made a mistake." Sesshomaru smiled and began to chuckle softly. InuYasha's other eye snapped open and both of them went as wide as dinnerplates. Then, InuYasha actually fell out of his tree from the shock of it all. He landed hard on the ground at his brother's feet. He quickly stood, watching in disbelief as his brother began to laugh even harder. "Damn..." InuYasha began, "What the Hell happened to YOU?!" Sesshomaru instantly sobered and grabbed InuYasha by the neck, lifting him off of the ground as his brother gasped for air. InuYasha wriggled and brought his hands up to pull at Sesshomaru's fingers around his neck, trying to make him quit choking him.

"You bastard..." Sesshomaru spoke icily, glaring at InuYasha with every ounce of hate he had in his being. InuYasha was very nearly terrified of that look. He'd never seen that before in his entire life. "Before you get any ideas concerning what I'm about to say, know that I am not defending the girl, but only putting a two-timing halfling in his place. Are we clear? Good." Sesshomaru slung his brother with all his might into the tree he'd fallen from. InuYasha felt pain course through his entire body, but forced himself to stand, taking in huge gulps of air that made the world tilt and spin. It didn't matter, though, because as soon as he had gotten to his feet, his brother grabbed him by his neck again and pinned him against the tree. "Do you wish to cause her pain? You must know that she still loves you, right? Of course you do. She loves ONLY you, but you love Kikyo, the woman she was reincarnated from, as well. You are worse than Miroku because, while the monk can show his true colors to the demon slayer, you decide to creep about and make both woman believe that you love only one woman. And that "one woman" purely depends on whichever is presently available to you, doesn't it?" Sesshomaru punched his brother as hard as he could in his jaw and released his hold on his neck. InuYasha slumped to the ground and tried to remain conscious as he took in deep breaths. Spots had begun to appear around the edges of his vision. He nearly died! His jaw felt like it had broken, but InuYasha was sure he'd be fine by morning. Sesshomaru's foot suddenly came up and made contact with InuYasha's stomach, knocking all of the breath out of him. Sesshomaru reached down while his brother was struggling to breathe and grabbed a handful of his long hair, drawing him up by it to look into his brother's face. "She won't let go of that feeling she has for you...and it causes her torment beyond imagining. She sees you everywhere, but for your happiness, the stupid human has sacrificed everything." InuYasha suddenly caught his breath and made a wild kick at Sesshomaru's chest, but his full-demon brother released InuYasha's long locks and leapt back a few yards, drawing his sword in time with InuYasha. The hanyou glowered at his brother with malice. Who was Sesshoumaru to call him heartless and selfish when HE felt nothing at all? Except maybe hate, but this was a definite first for showing it. "And when I say she's sacrificed everything, I mean EVERYTHING. It only started with you, if you can't see that much for yourself." InuYasha looked at his brother questioningly, mad as Hell. What was his brother trying to say? How had Kagome sacrificed everything for InuYasha? The hanyou watched his brother take on a horrifying scowl. "When she let you go with Kikyo, she lost you. Now, she can't stay with the her friends because you'll be there and she doesn't want to confuse you with the choice between her and Kikyo again. Then there's her confusion of what exactly to do with the Shikon no Tama now that you've run off into the sunset with Kikyo. After all, you don't really think about becoming a full-demon now that you're with Kikyo, do you? Of course not. And why become human if the clay-pot accepts you as you are? You'd only be abandoning the strength that you could use to protect her, am I right?" InuYasha's eyes narrowed as he grit his teeth. His brother always did things like this. He waited and observed until he had enough facts and blackmail to drive a person mentally insane. it only hurt the person so much, though, because they knew that he was destroying them with the undeniable truth. Lies could be waved away easily...but the truth was irreversible damage. "I see that I am," his brother said coolly.

"Just shut up, already! Kagome's fine and you know it! She's NEVER been the emotional wreck you're blabbering about!" InuYasha shouted, bringing his sword around, "WIND SCAR!" Sesshomaru leapt out of the way and came down in front of InuYasha to pin the flat side of Tojikin to the hanyou's neck. The hanyou held completely still for fear of inadvertently chopping his own head off. "Come off it, Sesshomaru! I know what you're up to and it's not working! I've already figured it out!" InuYasha was referring to the plan he and Kagome had undoubtedly cooked up to make him, InuYasha, so jealous that he would fall completely in love with Kagome again.

"Kagome may not show it, but that doesn't mean she doesn't feel the way I'm telling you that she does. You know that the stupid girl never wants to upset anyone. She practically thinks it's third-degree murder to share her problems with another person!" Sesshomaru stepped back from InuYasha and sheathed his sword, surprising the hanyou. He watched as Sesshomaru reached into his armor, retrieving a small, pink jewel. The Shikon no Tama! InuYasha's eyes went wide as he looked upon it. "She sacrificed everything. EVERYTHING. She can't go home without this jewel, as I understand it. Because of you, she's tortured with thoughts of unrequieted love, with the loss of her friends, and even the loss of her own family and time period. So, keep jumping between women, InuYasha. Keep hurting Kagome and making her feel such incredible pain for every second she has left in her miserable life. I'm sure that she'll never hate you for it. In fact, I'll bet she'll still love you right up to her Very. Last. Breath." InuYasha gaped in horror at his older brother and fell to his knees. That was it for InuYasha. What had he done...? It was the truth, he knew. His brother wasn't lying or trying to hurt him. His only agenda with telling him this was to protect Kagome from InuYasha's selfish ways. Sesshomaru turned around and left the clearing, his long, silver hair swaying as he disappeared through the trees from whence he came.

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

"You pervert!"

SMACK!

Kagome opened her eyes to bright sunshine and Sango and Miroku having their usual discussion of what the ways of a monk were supposed to include--and Sango insisted that none of them said anything about stroking her backside! Kagome laughed when she noticed Miroku's usual scarlet handprint, bringing it to Sango's attention that she was awake.

"Kagome? I think that InuYasha and Sesshomaru had some sort of fight last night..." Kagome instantly jumped to her feet.

"WHAT?" Kagome couldn't believe this! Couldn't she have one peaceful night? Just one? Sango nodded, letting out a deep sigh, and looked pointedly off to the side. Kagome looked as well and saw InuYasha and Sesshomaru leaning against opposite trees and facing one another. InuYasha would speak first, while Sesshomaru listened, and then Sesshomaru would interrupt every now and then to add something. It seemed as though they were...but it couldn't be, could it?

"It looks like they're...um..." Kagome began, not daring to believe it.

"Having a decent conversation with one another? Yeah, I know. That's what I mean!" Sango exclaimed, suddenly panic-stricken.

"They're getting along, so it must mean that something terrible has occurred. Probably worse than Naraku, if they're THAT focused on treating each other with respect," Miroku added.

"Mm-hm! Whatever's happened, they've both agreed to focus all of their attention on it and put their past differences aside," Shippo said, nodding and putting a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Hey, Kagome, where're you going?!" Kagome had finally had enough and was striding over to Sesshomaru and InuYasha, who both looked up at her with puzzled expressions as she approached.

"Hey, Kagome, what's--?" InuYasha began, but Kagome cut him off.

"Save it. Why're you guys getting along so well? Not only is it creepy, but it has everyone thinking that something terrible has happened!" Kagome shouted angrily, but then she suddenly became very worried. "There hasn't, has there? I mean, Rin and Kikyo are still okay and everything, aren't they? Or has something even worse happened? Gah! You guys had better spill right NOW or--"

"Nothing's happened," InuYasha and Sesshoumaru said at once and in perfect unison. They looked back at one another in surprise. Kagome blinked dazedly, not sure what to make of this drastic overnight change. 'One day they can barely meet each other's eye without scowling and the next they're reading each other's minds...?'

"Um, okay then. I'm just...going to, um...go back to the others and..." Both guys looked back at her, just as speechless as herself before the three of them said "yeah" all together and walked off in three separate directions. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo looked very confused when Kagome came back to sit with them.

"Maybe it isn't such a great idea to let InuYasha and Sesshoumaru become closer. It might actually bring about an apocalypse..." Miroku said somberly. The girls and Shippo all nodded in agreement.


	6. Chapter 6: Confrontation

**Chapter Six:**_Confrontation_

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

Sesshomaru and Kagome led the group as they headed for Minou Lake on the southern branch of the demon lord's lands. Kagome's injuries had healed considerably overnight, thanks to Kaede, and when the old woman had realized this, she wished them luck and returned to her humble hut. Sesshomaru was glad that she had decided against accompanying them the rest of the way to Naraku's meeting place as she would most assuredly slow them down. Naraku might be willing to give them the early morning to comply with his demands, but Sesshomaru was nearly certain that another day would cause him to become rash. If they didn't arrive soon, then Naraku might kill Rin to prove his point and get the message across that he's serious about getting what he wants. The message was unneccesary for Sesshomaru, however, as he already knew that Naraku wouldn't hesitate to do anything that might get him the jewel. He'd already proved that much when he enraged Sesshomaru with Rin's abduction; Naraku was evil, but he wasn't stupid. He had to have known that Sesshomaru wasn't a force to be reckoned with, yet he had tested the Lord of the Western Lands' patience, regardless. Onigumo knew that he was risking his own demise when he challenged Sesshomaru...and what disturbed the demon lord was that Naraku didn't seem to care. He was willing to die for his cause. 'This is why I hate martyrs...' Sesshomaru's expression grew more impregnable.

At the remembrance of last night, he smiled a small smile. His little brother had, to both his and Sesshomaru's great surprise, somewhat matured after their little "talk." After Sesshomaru had left the broken InuYasha alone with his thoughts and realizations, making his way back to the campsite to watch over Kagome, his little brother had decided to follow him...

_**Last Night**_

Sesshomaru stared up at the crescent moon, unfeeling, and mulled over his and his brother's conversation. He'd said everything he'd ever considered saying to InuYasha since he noticed his brother's two-woman lifestyle. He was somewhat pleased to have finally gotten to tell him, because when he'd still not known Kagome, he had felt a strong urge to keep his comments regarding their relationship to himself. Because revealing that he had formed an opinion would mean that he had felt something about what was happening. And the former Sesshomaru had always refused to develop any sort of tie with the whole ordeal.

But that was all quite different now.

Before this week, it was easy to ignore his brother's selfish ways, but once Sesshomaru had met the human and determined her compassionate nature, he had felt that his brother was committing a grave deed. It was sickening, now, for Sesshomaru to look back at all the times he'd watched InuYasha switch between the two women. And it further nauseated him when he remembered Kagome's passive reaction towards him every time she discovered him with Kikyo. She always forgave him; she always hurt herself again. Humans were so unbelievably pathetic. 'Hn, true. And that is why InuYasha's exploitation of their weakness is so unforgivable.' He was furious with his little brother. His hanyou sibling only ever managed to further demean his heritage in Sesshomaru's presence. It enraged Sesshomaru to watch as InuYasha so openly refused to honor InuTaisho's, their father's, legacy with his demoralized antics. InuYasha was a half-demon, but as long as their father's blood ran through his veins, it was Sesshomaru's personal opinion that he should do all he could to uphold the family name.

Suddenly, Sesshomaru caught the scent of his half-blooded brother and turned slowly to face him. InuYasha stood just outside the darkness of the trees as the light of the crescent moon shone brazenly upon his snowy hair, giving it a more silver-like quality. Sesshomaru scowled slightly, still disgusted at the sight of his younger brother. InuYasha's eyes were wide and unblinking. He was breathing heavily, as though he'd ran to catch up with him. Sesshomaru stood, waiting in silence for InuYasha to explain himself, as his scowl melted into indifference again.

"You...!" he breathed, still trying to catch his breath. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, predicting another spat with his brother, and turned to leave. He'd followed him all the way here just for a rematch? How childish... "You were right!" Sesshomaru's brow knit at those words, which he barely believed he'd heard from the usually-obnoxious hanyou, as he froze in his tracks. Was this some sort of bizarre scheme...? Sesshomaru slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at InuYasha, his face an immutable blank, regardless of his shock.

"Do you often go through such trouble to state the obvious?" InuYasha didn't appear fazed at Sesshomaru's flat tone of voice or self-confident words. He only looked up at the moon, a lonely expression over his face.

"I've been focussing all of my attention on trying to decide between Kagome and Kikyo, but I haven't been paying any mind at all to how it's been affecting THEM. All I think about are my own feelings..." InuYasha looked back over at Sesshomaru and smirked. "Tonight, after you knocked the shit out of me, I realized what I've been doing all this time. What I've been doing to them both. So, I came to tell you that you were right." Sesshomaru nodded once and turned back to leave his brother. 'What does it matter if he's gained some insight? It's useless if he doesn't act on it...' Sesshomaru scowled, but when he came within a foot of leaving the small circle of light and vanishing into the shadows, his little brother spoke again. "I'm going to be with Kikyo." Sesshomaru halted and considered what his brother was saying. He had made a choice for the sake of the two women he had been hurting, then? Perhaps his brother had grown up a little tonight, after all. "I keep confusing my feelings for Kikyo when Kagome's the only one around, because she looks so much like her. Kagome was right back there when she seen me and Kikyo at the Sacred Tree. I DON'T really love Kagome like I thought I did. I only love Kikyo...and I know that she's the one because of how sure I am when we're together. When I'm with Kagome, I always second-guess how I feel. I always wonder whether or not I actually love her." Sesshomaru turned around and looked at his brother appraisingly. InuYasha was giving him a worried look. "But Kagome does love me, though, even if I don't return her feelings. I know that. You were right about her being messed up with unrequieted love or whatever, but I don't have a CLUE how we're supposed to fix something like that." Sesshomaru and InuYasha grew eerily silent at this understanding. When it came to matters of human emotion, anyone on the outside of the problem was completely and utterly helpless. 'But Kagome isn't. The pain she feels is caused by her own feelings and her reluctance to let them go. Only she can free herself from her pain.' Sesshomaru considered this for a moment and also took into thought Kagome before he said,

"She'll be fine." InuYasha looked at him, a puzzled expression over his face, before the expression turned to furious annoyance.

"You'd better not try anything stupid after harping on to me about hurting her all the time, you damned hypocrite!" Sesshomaru fixed him with a death-invoking stare. Hurt her...? Did he HONESTLY believe that Sesshomaru would pursue a romantic relationship with a human woman? His brother had obviously thought that Sesshomaru's new friendship with Kagome was heading for something else. 'Allow him to think what he will. It won't change what will or will not come.'

"She's much stronger than the average human," he admitted lightly, his tone as cool as cucumber as he conveniently ignored his brother's implication. Sesshomaru turned and walked through the forest, calling back to InuYasha in an afterthought, "Stronger than your average demon or miko, as well, for that matter..."

_**End Of Flashback**_

After that, Sesshomaru and InuYasha had returned to the camp where the two brothers discussed Kagome's injuries and the upcoming battle against Naraku to save Kikyo and Rin. Sesshomaru had found that he wasn't so annoyed that InuYasha was his brother anymore. He was only a half-demon, but he was growing much more sensible--or at least that's how Sesshomaru thought of it.

Sesshomaru now turned his attention off to the side to Kagome, who was looking down miserably at the Chisa doll that she held in her hands. Sesshomaru couldn't believe that she still hadn't lost the little straw doll that Rin had given her before her abduction. After all that she'd been through, Kagome had never released her hold on the doll. The Lord of the Western Lands smiled at the realization before irritably snatching the expression from his face. He clasped his hand over the human girl's shoulder, who looked up at him in curious surprise.

"We'll get her back, Kagome. I protect my wards with my life." Kagome blinked once before giving him a heartfelt smile. Sesshomaru faintly returned the gesture before focussing back on the trail. They should be there in about an hour, if they kept up their current pace.

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

"We'll get her back, Kagome. I protect my wards with my life." Kagome blinked. Had he just said WARDS? As in more than one? Kagome smiled at Sesshomaru, whose lips barely curved into what Kagome took for a smile in return. He turned back around and Kagome looked down at Chisa, her smile refusing to fade. Sesshomaru had grown much kinder towards her than she would ever have expected. She found herself thinking of the demon lord as a trusted friend instead of some heartless block of ice.

She couldn't spend the precious time before they arrived at the meeting place thinking about new friendships, though. She had to concentrate on getting Rin and Kikyo back. Luckily, Sango and Miroku had thought to bring her backback, bow, and arrows with them when they left the old campsite a week ago. She currently wore all of these items on her back, standing proudly and painlessly now that her wounds were so near to healing completely. Naraku was going to get it now. No one hurt little kids while Kagome Higurashi was around to do something about it--and InuYasha needed to be with Kikyo.

Kagome turned slightly and looked back at the hanyou out of the corner of her eye. He still wore that same, thoughtful expression--so deep and sorrowful. He missed her so much...and he seemed so worried. Kagome's expression became soft with self-pity for a moment. It wasn't fair that she had to give him up. Why should Kikyo be with InuYasha just because she was the first woman he'd fallen in love with? 'Stop it, Kagome. You know as well as anyone that it isn't because Kikyo saw him first. He's with her because he loves her.' Kagome sighed and turned back around to look out ahead at the pathway. 'Besides, even if he didn't love Kikyo, he'd never have REALLY fallen in love with me. He doesn't feel that strongly about me...and love follows fate. If it isn't in someone's destiny, then it can never happen.' Kagome banished her petty feelings about InuYasha and allowed her face to form a hardened, cold expression worthy of Sesshomaru's features. She had more important things to worry about right now. Naraku...would need to die.

_**Sango's Point-Of View**_

Sango watched Sesshomaru lay a hand on Kagome's shoulder, seen them smile at each other, and then watched Kagome as she stole a sad look back at the clueless InuYasha who continued to gaze forlornly into the sky. He certainly gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "lovesick puppy." Sango sighed and looked over to Miroku questioningly. He looked back at her with the same expression. They both sighed in exasperation.

"Geez, InuYasha's been staring at the sky for an awfully long time. What's up with that goofy look? Should we do something to wake him up...?" Shippo said from Miroku's back as he grinned mischievously at InuYasha. Miroku looked over at InuYasha as well.

"I wouldn't interrupt him just yet, Shippo, or you might get him into trouble with Kagome." Shippo looked at him, confused, and Sango explained.

"If you tease InuYasha, he'll lose his temper with you..."

"...and then Kagome will be forced to sit him," Miroku finished for her. Shippo began to grin and Sango and Miroku sighed again. Maybe they shouldn't have said anything? Shippo leaped over to InuYasha's shoulder and dramatically knocked on the top of his head.

"Anyone home in there?!" he called into InuYasha's puppy ears. InuYasha growled slightly and glanced over at Shippo as though he were a frustrating mosquito. He roughly brushed his hand over his shoulder as though he was dusting himself off, sending Shippo flying into Sango, who caught the kitsune with ease. "Cut it out, InuYasha! I was doing you a favor, you know!" InuYasha glanced at the fox-demon for a moment, but then he turned back to stare up at the sky again, his face more guarded this time. Like Sesshomaru's. Sango gasped and Miroku's face formed a look of horrified surprise.

"Sango? Did you just see that?" Sango nodded, speechless.

"Yeah, and he didn't even make a smart remark. He didn't ask what Shippo had meant by doing him a favor or ANYTHING!" Sango felt Shippo quiver on her shoulder.

"First Kagome runs off with Sesshomaru after telling InuYasha to be with Kikyo, then Sesshomaru and InuYasha had an actual conversation with each other this morning, and now InuYasha doesn't feel like knocking me over the head? Sango, I'm scared!" Miroku and Sango looked to him nervously before looking to one another.

"Me too," Miroku and Sango said in unison.

"You guys know that I can hear you, right?" InuYasha asked in a flat voice, not looking down from the sky. The three of his friends felt an icy chill run down their spines at the similarity InuYasha's voice now held to Sesshomaru's.

_**Rin's Point-Of-View**_

Rin had had enough! She was tired of sitting in this stupid little corner while Naraku sat around discussing his big, evil plans with Kanna and Kagura. She stood up and ran at Naraku, kicking him as hard as she could in the shins. Or, at least, that had been the idea.

"Insolent child! Not only are you merely a pathetic human, but you aren't even grown yet. What makes such a weak little pup so brazen...?" Rin may have answered, had she not been dangling in the air by her neck. As soon as she had come within a foot of Naraku, one of his repulsive tentacle things wrapped itself tightly about her throat and lifted her into the sky. She struggled to breathe, droplets of perspiration popping out along her forehead as her vision began to darken. Just before she completely passed out, she felt herself thud to the ground. She took in huge gulps of air and then looked up at Naraku with stubborn anger. Naraku smiled a terrible smile. "Oh, I do hope that your guardian decides not to show. I do hope he decides to keep the jewel for himself. Because I do hope to watch that bold expression fade away from your face as I drain the life from you..." Rin whimpered slightly before scooting back into her corner and hugging her legs to her chest.

"They will deceive you," Kanna said suddenly, her face emotionless as she turned to face Naraku. He turned to look at her inquiringly. "InuYasha and Sesshomaru have joined ranks to defeat you. They have deceived you, Lord Naraku. They have no intention of handing over the Shikon no Tama." Naraku flicked his eyes off to the side of Kanna's head and saw a bee-like insect hovering there. His saimyousho. Naraku smiled evilly.

"I see." He turned to look at Rin. Her eyes went wide when she saw Naraku's terrifying grin. "That's fine with me, because I never planned to return the hostages, either. I expected as much from that Lord of the Western Lands." Suddenly, Rin was being held by her neck in the air again, fighting to inhale even the most slight breath of air. "I'll play with this toy first, and when it breaks, I'll have the clay-pot to play with. After she makes the jewel whole again, she'll no longer be of use to me, anyway." Rin's vision blackened and her lungs felt ready to explode. But then Naraku was hit in the head by something and dropped her to the floor again. Rin's vision came back to her and she looked down on the floor at what had been thrown. It was Chisa! Rin looked up sharply at the window and seen Kagome, Sesshomaru, and InuYasha sitting atop a huge pink balloon that Rin recognized as the kitsune.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"Lord Sesshomaru! Don't let him have the jewel! He says he's going to kill me and that girl that looks so much like Kagome no matter if he gets what he wants or not!" Sesshomaru and company jumped through the window where Kilala, Sango, and Miroku soon entered as well. Now, the room was filled to capacity with people who wanted to kill each other. Five against three and in their favor, no less. This looked good for them. Sesshomaru laid eyes on Rin and quickly looked her over for injuries. Other than the red ring around her neck where she'd been throttled, she was still relatively unharmed. Sesshomaru looked back at Naraku and his eyes narrowed in hatred.

"Rin. Come here," he said. Rin instantly started towards him, but then she ran into some sort of invisible wall and fell to the floor with a thump. Sesshomaru gave Naraku a look of daggers. "A barrier. Very well, I'll just have to kill you, then." Sesshomaru drew Tojikin and lifted his sword to send a blast of energy towards Naraku, but then Kagura made a quick movement and Kikyo was standing in front of Naraku as a living shield. Sesshomaru immediately aborted the attack. 'What...? I've grown weak! Before this past week, I would have went THROUGH the clay-pot to protect Rin. Why...?' Sesshomaru flicked his eyes over to his brother, who had drawn Tetsusaiga and was looking at Kikyo helplessly.

"Kikyo..." he said, his voice tight with restraint. His brother was as furious as Sesshomaru had ever seen him. Naraku chuckled softly and Kikyo rose her head to look at InuYasha, spread-eagled and suspended in mid-air. She gave him a small smile that didn't reach to her eyes.

"Protect the girl, InuYasha, and the jewel. Forget about me and concentrate on retrieving them," her voice faintly instructed. It sounded to Sesshomaru that she was speaking from deep within a cavern, her voice was so weak and faint. InuYasha looked surprised for a moment before his features took on a determined expression.

"No way! I didn't come all this way just to let you to sacrifice yourself!" InuYasha rested his sword on his shoulder and stood up straight. "I'm going to kill Naraku and save your ass, so you'd just better not go limp on me now and make me do all of the work!" Kikyo looked at him sadly and Sesshomaru's expression became hard and cold (or more so than usual.)

"I see that you still talk as big as ever, hanyou, but as always, your threats are meaningless to me. You cannot win, even with your brother's aid--though I'll admit that he's more of an obstacle for me than you've ever been." Naraku smirked at InuYasha's enraged face. The hanyou opened his mouth, about to argue the point with Naraku, when Sesshomaru cut in.

"Miko," the demon lord began calmly, causing the dead priestess to look at him. "Don't make this a waste of our time." Kikyo held her gaze for a few more moments, obviously trying to decide if Sesshomaru had really meant that he had come here to save her as well, before her lifeless expression vanished to be replaced with determination. She looked at InuYasha and nodded once. InuYasha smirked defiantly in response.

"You're going down, Naraku!" Kagome released a sacred arrow at Naraku, but he easily evaded it as he slipped out of the ninth-story window on one of Kagura's feathers, Kikyo still held prisoner. As Miroku, Sango, and InuYasha went after Naraku on Kilala, Sesshomaru turned to Rin and grabbed on to her arm, meaning to lead her to a safe place for the duration of their battle with Naraku. He was glad to see that Naraku's barrier had vanished in his surprise when Kagome had attacked so unexpectedly. He began to drag the human child along by her elbow when he suddenly felt very weak, like the world was being pulled away from him...or, maybe, like he was being pulled away from the world? Slowly, he turned and saw the strange little girl dressed in all white--the girl known as Kanna--holding her mirror to face Sesshomaru. And something unusual was happening. Something that was CLEARLY not good for the demon lord.


	7. Chapter 7: Another Brother

**Chapter Seven:**_Another Brother_

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

Kagome had turned and was about to throw Shippo out the window--that way he could transform into the balloon and take them down to the battlefield--when she heard Sesshomaru make an odd noise. Kagome nearly dropped the startled kitsune as she spun around on heel to look behind her. Rin was standing right next to Sesshomaru, both of them as rigid as a plank of wood. The little girl appeared to be in an extreme state of shock and horror as Sesshomaru clutched onto her arm, seemingly frozen in mid-stride. He'd apparently been tugging Rin along after him, but had been rendered motionless somehow. Kagome watched as Sesshomaru slowly and mechanically revolved to face the figure behind him: Kanna. She was holding her soul-reaping mirror directly towards Sesshomaru and Rin, who were obviously feeling the effects.

"Lord Sesshomaru...? What's...happening...to us?" Rin said brokenly as her eyes began to dull, their cheerful sparkle fading into shadows. Her voice was toneless and flat; the singsong pitch that Kagome had always adored was gone. Kagome was enraged and terrified at the same time. Both Rin AND Sesshomaru were losing their souls right before her very eyes! Kagome grabbed an arrow from her quiver and brought her bow into position as Shippo hid behind her leg.

"Rin." The little girl's eyes had barely even flicked up to Sesshomaru's, her face as blank as his had ever been, before her guardian shoved her as hard as he could in one great effort. Rin toppled out from in front of Kanna's mirror and stumbled onto the floor, gazing at the Lord of the Western Lands as the life returned to her eyes. Then, those eyes filled with tears.

"SESSHOMARU-SAMA!" Rin wailed, making a wild dive for her guardian. Shippo quickly transformed into the giant balloon and forced her away from the fight between Kanna and Sesshomaru...though it really wasn't all that much of a fight. Kagome shot a sacred arrow at the creepy girl in white, but Kanna easily dodged the attack as the demon lord whose soul she was slowly extracting collapsed lifelessly to the floor. Kagome went cold all over as her heart jumped from her chest and flopped on the floor at her feet. She reached out to Sesshomaru's fallen form and took a shaky step towards him, eyes wide with fear, before falling to her knees on the floor. She shuddered and two tears fell on the stone floor. She couldn't believe that this had just happened. She couldn't believe that Sesshomaru had just DIED when she'd finally started to get to know him! When she'd finally been considering him someone she could talk to; someone she could call a friend.

"Sesshomaru?" Her voice was faint and far away from her body. She didn't quite believe that it had been her that had spoken. "Get up. You aren't the kind of guy that can be killed by a little girl. You're stronger than that. Get up..." A moment passed with her simply staring at his motionless figure, but soon she let her eyelids fall closed. When she reopened them, her features were twisted in rage even as the tears spilled over her cheeks. "You're so stupid! I thought you were sensible! Intelligent! You can't lay there and tell me that I gave you too much credit!" Kagome slowly pushed herself back to her feet, wiping her eyes angrily. "You said that you would protect your wards with your life...!" Kagome sniffed, a bitter tone to her voice as she desperately scorned, "Are you so stupid that you've never heard the phrase "figure of speech?!"Answer me, you idiot! I asked you a question, so ANSWER!"

Her tears began coming down in sheets, making it useless for her to wipe them away anymore. She walked over to where he lay with slow, steady steps and looked down at his quiet face. "Why didn't you use what strength you had left to save yourself...? Why not get out of there and THEN save Rin? Why...?" Kagome spoke softly, gently, before slowly turning towards Kanna, who was standing next to the window, looking down. She must have been signaling for Kagura to send her a feather. Kagome's face became stony with fury as she took two huge steps towards the girl.

"FOX FIRE!" Kanna was enveloped in great billowing green flames as Shippo landed on Kagome's shoulder. Kanna turned around to face them, appearing to feel no pain, as the smell of burning flesh wafted through the air. Kagome brought her bow up and released a sacred arrow at the wench, but something happened just as she released her hold on the bowstring. Another attack followed it at the same time, just as had happened when InuYasha and her fought together! She didn't turn to see if InuYasha stood there, because Kanna was currently being thrown from the room and out of the ninth-story window by the onslaught of attacks. Shippo jumped over to the window ledge and looked down out of the window. "That's...scary..." Kagome supposed that Kanna must be splattered all over the ground below.

"Sesshomaru-sama! You're alive!" Rin's voice called from somewhere further into the room. Kagome turned around, surprised delight spreading rapidly over her features, as she saw Sesshomaru standing upright again with his sword drawn. He'd been the one whose attack had followed hers? He was looking down at Rin with a faint, but noticable, fatherly smile as she hugged his leg.

"I was surprised that Kanna wouldn't know the power of her own weapon. It appears to have an exception against demons, though it effectively paralyzed me for a--" Kagome suddenly lost control of herself and collided into Sesshomaru's chest with all of her might.

"You idiot! You idiot! You IDIOT!" Kagome said, raising her voice and clutching his haori tighter in her fists each time. She began to sob uncontrollably, feeling like a fool even as she did. "I'm sorry! I...I... You idiot! Why...?" At this point, Kagome wasn't making sense even to herself, so she just fell silent and continued to cry softly.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"I was surprised that Kanna wouldn't know the power of her own weapon. It appears to have an exception against demons, though it effectively paralyzed me for a--" He was in mid-sentence when he was caught off-guard as something rammed into him. His eyes widened, startled, as he looked down at the top of Kagome's dark head. 'Kagome...' Sesshomaru relaxed as she began to scream at him.

"You idiot! You idiot! You IDIOT!" Sesshomaru's face took on a pained expresssion as Kagome began to sob, her hands clutching tighter to his fluff and kimono top. "I'm sorry! I...I... You idiot! Why...?" Sesshomaru gritted his teeth as he tried to keep from giving away any more emotion than he already had. He didn't like to see this. In fact, he hated it. Sesshomaru couldn't make out exactly what she'd said after these comments, but soon she quieted.

"Kagome," he said softly as he brought his arm up to wrap around her shoulders, holding her tight. She gasped. "Don't...don't do this anymore. I don't want to see you cry like this ever again, understand?" His voice was gentle, yet commanding. He hoped she'd understand that he was only demanding this of her for his sake. It made him feel something loathesome when she cried, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. The word "annoyance" came to mind, however. Kagome pulled away from him and looked up into his golden eyes with her chocolate ones. She had a strange, curious expression over her face that soon vanished within a small smile.

"Then don't ever make me think you're dead again." Sesshomaru started, surprised at her response. She'd been crying over him...? Well, of course she was. What else might she have been so upset over? But why over HIM? She barely knew him and the only spoken relationship they had was guardian and ward, though Sesshomaru had begun to consider them as friends. Perhaps Kagome thought that they were friends as well? Sesshomaru brought his hand up and wiped a tear from her cheek. 'What am I doing!' Sesshomaru quickly withdrew his hand and, sharply turning his face away from Kagome, strode to the window with his indifferent expression put back in its rightful place. He felt Kagome's eyes watching him, so he made certain that his expression did not falter...but he felt his face warm, all the same. 'So now I've sunken as low as to react to a woman's mere gaze? And to a HUMAN woman's, at that. How pathetic I've become...'

"Fox creature. Transform," he commanded, eyeing the kitsune as he silently beckoned for Rin to follow him. As always, the young girl obeyed without fuss; she had no qualms about doing as he wished of her. The fox thing, on the other hand...

_**Rin's Point-Of-View**_

"Hey! I'm a kitsune demon! My name's not "fox creature," it's "Shippo," and why're you bossing me around for?!" Sesshomaru sighed wearily, causing Rin to look up at him with suspicion. She'd never seen Lord Sesshomaru express any emotion at all. What might have happened to him?

"Shippo, please? Sesshomaru's a good guy! He's helping us rescue Kikyo, remember?" Kagome-chan's voice echoed around the room, making Rin look back at her with a chipper smile. Now she knew what was going on! Kagome's kindness made Sesshomaru feel happier! Rin had always liked Kagome because of her sunny personality and she knew that she had once tamed InuYasha's wild and uncontrollable demon side with her compassion, as well. Of COURSE she would make Sesshomaru's skies less gray! Rin giggled with cheer, making every inhabitant of the room look at her with surprise.

"Sorry! I'm just glad that we're all friends!" Rin exclaimed, smiling brightly. She looked up at Sesshomaru and he smiled down at her. She hadn't ever saw THAT before, either. "You can smile now, Lord Sesshomaru! You never smiled BEFORE! What happened to make you so happy?" Sesshomaru-sama dropped the smile at once and assumed a truly astonished expression. Then, it too disappeared, only to be replaced with a slightly softer smile than before. He didn't answer her, though, which left Rin curious.

"Okay! I'll transform...but not because he said so!" Shippo got up onto the window ledge and looked back at Sesshomaru with a contemptuous expression over his childish features. Rin thought he looked funny, so she laughed. Shippo gave her an outraged look, but his blush made him look even more comical than before. He looked over to Sesshomaru again and finished, "I'm only doing it because InuYasha and the others need our help with Naraku and Kagura!" Then, he leaped out of the window and a big, pink balloon floated back up in his place. Sesshomaru helped Rin up onto the massive Shippo Blimp and then offered Kagome a stepping ladder: his back. Rin was sure that Sesshomaru's back had never before had a foot of any kind planted in it and it made Rin blink out of pure shock. 'Maybe Lord Sesshomaru and Kagome-chan aren't just friends, after all. Maybe...maybe they're...' Rin blushed, smiling knowingly as Kagome and Sesshomaru took a seat on either side of her. She looked up at them both ecstatically before grabbing a hand apiece. They looked down at her as though she were an alien as she put each of their hands over one another's and squeezed them together within her own as though she could make them stick together forever.

"What's going on, Rin-chan...?" Kagome asked, her eye twitching nervously.

"Rin. What are you doing?" Sesshomaru's voice said roughly as he gently tugged his hand back towards him. But Rin wouldn't let go. She knew that, if he had really wanted to, Lord Sesshomaru could have already had his hand back. He knew it, too. Yet, his and Kagome's hands remained one on top of the other. Kagome didn't fight at all.

"She just wants us all to be friends. Right, Rin? After all, she just said so back in the castle!" Kagome said happily. She brought her other hand around and placed it atop Rin's, coming down level with Rin's face, before smiling a little sadly at her. "And you must be scared about the battle that's coming up, too, aren't you?" Rin nodded, looking way down below at a dark cloud that had formed around Naraku. That man was scary. Especially when he grew all those gross tentacles and whatever else those putrid bubble-things were that appeared all over his body. Would Lord Sesshomaru really be able to defeat him? "Well, then, I've got an idea!" Kagome's voice suddenly exclaimed, bringing Rin back out of her thoughts as the oddly-dressed miko straightened her posture. Rin looked at her inquiringly and Kagome smiled down at her fondly, her head tilting to one side. "We'll make a pact! A pact that, no matter what happens, we'll always be best friends, okay? That way, no matter if we're separated or if something really bad happens, we'll always have this little link between the three of us! You know why we'll always have that link...?" Rin shook her head slowly, but then she thought of something and her eyes lit up with sudden realization. She smiled and exclaimed,

"Because friendships are forever!" Kagome nodded, her eyes bright and her smile so broad that she was sure that Naraku would spot them from the ground by that alone.

"That's right! So now we're all best friends! We'll never be apart from each other, ever!" Rin smiled, cheered at Kagome's words, and let go of her two best friends' hands so that she could wrap her arms around Kagome in a hug. "Friends forever?" Rin nodded against Kagome's chest, but she couldn't help but notice that neither of her new best friends had moved their hands as of yet. Maybe they just hadn't noticed...? Rin smiled all the more.

"Forever."

_**InuYasha's Point-Of-View**_

"Give it up, Naraku! You're starting to grate on my nerves, here!" InuYasha called from just outside the thick, black cloud of miasma that Naraku had oozed from his many putrid boils. InuYasha couldn't get near enough to attack him, as the poisonous gas served as a perfect shield--a barrier that InuYasha couldn't cut through.

Or could he?

InuYasha gripped the hilt of his blade a little tighter. His Kaze no Kizu was a wind-based attack...so it caused wind, didn't it? InuYasha smirked. It was well worth a decent shot. He brought his sword back and shouted the name of his attack in one great bellow,

"WIND SCAR!" The attack ripped through the cloud, dispersing the lethal gases as it went. At that moment, he heard several different pairs of feet thud on the ground and looked over his shoulder at Kagome, Rin, Shippo, and his older brother. He smirked when he seen Sesshomaru and called over, "What? Are you gonna make me do all the work?" Sesshomaru strode over to him, motioning for Rin to stay with Shippo when she tried to follow him, and replied in his usual flat tone,

"If Kikyo and Rin are to be kept from Naraku, I see no other choice but to intervene, little brother." InuYasha was about to respond, his blood boiling, when Sesshomaru smirked and turned towards Naraku. InuYasha's anger faded and a smirk of his own spread over his face; his brother had been joking. 'Sounds wierd. Sesshomaru joking? That's like saying Naraku likes butterflies!' He turned to face Naraku as well, looking at his brother out of the corner of his eye. He'd changed. No one but his brother could really notice, he knew, but Sesshomaru had changed dramatically since last they'd met. Before this week, it seemed as though InuYasha and Sesshomaru were simply blood-related enemies, bent on killing each other for their own gain. But after all that had happened, even InuYasha was prepared to admit that he felt closer to Sesshomaru. They seemed more like brothers now and it didn't feel strange to InuYasha at all, for some reason.

"Kagome!" Sango called from InuYasha's right. He looked to her and then to Kagome, who stood with Shippo and Rin nearby. The demon slayer ran over to the miko, still watchful of the silent Naraku; the spider youkai appeared to be too entertained with the strange antics of the Inu-tachi to fight at the moment, anyway. "We saw Kanna fall out the window! What happened? Did Sesshomaru kill her?" InuYasha listened intently as Kagome laughed nervously. He'd seen the incarnation of Naraku fall out of the nine-story window and die once and for all...but it disturbed him, somehow. Maybe it was because Naraku had done nothing to save her from her death, nor had Kagura. After all, Kanna had been the only incarnation he'd created that was actually loyal to him; Kagura, on the other hand, siezed every opportunity to defy him and contribute to his demise. Why hadn't he made a move to rescue the soul-stealing wench? It would have been an easy thing for him to make Kagura send one of her blasted feathers at the last moment...so why?

"Well, Shippo and I helped quite a bit, actually! She was trying to take Rin and Sesshomaru's souls, so we all attacked her! We didn't really plan on her falling out the window like that, though!" Kagome said loudly, smiling broadly. InuYasha looked to his brother, who determinedly avoided his eye and concentrated wholly on Naraku. "But look! We saved Rin!" Kagome suddenly changed the subject, making InuYasha wonder. Why did she seem so uncomfortable about Kanna's attack on Sesshomaru and Rin? A thought came to mind, but he thought that there might be something more involved in the matter than just Kagome's new attachment on his older brother and his ward. She seemed more embarrassed than shaken, for some reason. She wanted to change the subject because something about what happened up there in the castle made her feel awkward...but what was it?

"I can see that! How are you, Rin? You weren't harmed by Kanna, were you?" Sango asked, standing in front of the little girl as she turned to face Naraku again.

"Uh-Uh! I'm fine! Kagome-chan and Sesshomaru-sama protected me!" Rin exclaimed, laughing. InuYasha always thought that Rin was really wierd. All kids were, actually. And speaking of wierd little kids...

"Ahem!" Shippo cleared his throat noisily from behind Rin, who jumped and turned around to face him.

"Oh! Yes, and Shippo protected me, too! Thank you, Shippo-chan!" Rin cried, bowing respectfully as she laughed again. Shippo blushed. InuYasha just barely caught a glimpse of Kagome smiling down on the two of them with that wierd look she always got when something struck her as "cute."

"Keh," InuYasha heard himself huff. Usually, the things Kagome considered "cute" were things that InuYasha considered "nauseating." Shippo and Rin's little talk was no exception. "Are we gonna attack Naraku any time soon or are we just gonna stand around making faces at each other? Damn..." Kagome and Sango turned to look at him angrily before the anger clicked into determination.

"You bet."

"Got it."

Sango leaped onto Kilala as she spoke and heaved her hiraikotsu over her shoulder as the two-tail took off into the air. Kagome came to stand between Sesshomaru and InuYasha, readying an arrow.

"Ready when you are," Miroku said from off to InuYasha's right, where Sango had once been standing. As he prepared to pull the rosary beads from his right hand, Sango swooped down and grabbed Miroku up onto Kilala with her. "Whoa! You could at least warn me before you do things like that!" they heard the monk shout from the sky.

"Do you always spend so much time talking before a battle? Perhaps your enemies die of the sheer boredom of it all. Or perhaps they just walk away? Really, I'm quite fascinated," Naraku said composedly from atop his mound of pulsating and slithering tentacles, smirking arrogantly. InuYasha clenched his fist around Tetsusaiga and Sesshomaru's face relaxed with indifference, which now seemed more out of place than when he smiled. The sharp sing of a blade met InuYasha's demonic ears and he zeroed in on the sound. His face became taut with uncertainty. He couldn't attack this enemy. He'd spent too long trying to save them! But when InuYasha saw what lay just behind him, he began to question his decision. Kikyo lay on the ground, unconscious and partially pinned down by about twenty pounds of Naraku-tentacle. He grimaced.

"Kohaku!" Sango's voice rang out from above as she caught sight of her brother, who stood guard over Kikyo. "No, Kohaku! Don't defend Naraku anymore! Please, get away from Kikyo! Please, Kohaku!" InuYasha thought for sure that Kohaku would remain unresponsive to his older sister's pleas, but just as she said his name that last time, he looked up at her. His eyes were still dull, his face still blank, but he had looked up at her. Kohaku had heard his sister speak to him and had broken out of his one-tracked mind to defeat Naraku's enemies. He'd been distracted by an outsider--someone who was not a minion of Naraku. 'If he's still responding to us, then that means he's still not entirely under Naraku's control. It means that he still holds some part of his mind to himself. So that means that there must still be hope for the kid.' InuYasha smirked and looked at Kohaku. There had to be some way that he could defeat the brat without ending his life. He'd just have to figure out how.

"Sesshomaru, we don't kill the kid, there. Got it?" InuYasha looked to Sesshomaru out of the corner of his eye. His older brother looked to him, then Kohaku, and then to Sango before returning his attention to Naraku. His emotionless expression never faltered.

"I understand."


	8. Chapter 8: A Talking Dog

**Chapter Eight:**_A Talking Dog_

_**Miroku's Point-Of-View**_

"Naraku has a plan. He let Kanna die for a reason," Miroku said solemnly from his seat just behind Sango. Sango looked back at him out of the corner of her eye, a disturbed expression over her face, before replying,

"I was thinking the same thing. Naraku took Kikyo with him when he left the castle, but didn't bother with Rin. Then he left Kanna up there all alone with nothing but that mirror to protect herself with. He seen Kanna falling out the window well before any of us, but he didn't even make a move to save her! I don't like the looks of this." Miroku inclined his head in agreement.

"Neither do I," Miroku allowed his hand to slip from Sango's shoulder and land on his leg. He would only have to move his hand ever so slightly and...

SMACK!

Miroku hadn't even touched her that time! 'Must have read my mind,' he thought, smiling slyly as he rubbed his stinging cheek. Nevertheless, he was prepared to deny any and all accusations from the beautiful demon slayer that may or may not refer to Miroku's lecherous intentions towards her bottom.

"Monk, my butt!" she shouted in furious skepticism.

"Indeed," Miroku muttered coyly, purposely taking her comment literally.

"Your mind is so one-tracked, I can't even begin to contemplate how you focus on battles! Seriously! Can't you lay off of me for even five--?" Sango had begun to turn around on Kilala to face Miroku, most likely to better lecture him, when her eye caught something down below. Miroku stared blankly at her as she cut herself off mid-sentence, surprise overcoming her features. "Wha...what?" she choked out in a hoarse whisper. Miroku quickly followed her gaze, clueless as to what had caught her interest, and felt his heart sink. "Kohaku!" Sango suddenly yelled, making Miroku close his eyes wearily. It was true. Kohaku, Sango's younger brother, stood miles below them.

Stood next to Naraku.

By the looks of things, Kohaku was guarding Kikyo from InuYasha and company. He already had the strange scythe-like weapon held threateningly in one hand, while holding the chain connected to it for its swift retraction in the other. The same weapon, Miroku presumed, he had used in battle alongside his sister and their family of demon slayers. That was all different now, though. He had went from exterminating evil demons to exterminating innocent human beings. He'd even murdered his own family. Anyone could see that the young man who once slayed demons was now the loyal minion of the most evil demon of all time: Onigumo Naraku.

"No, Kohaku! Don't defend Naraku anymore! Please, get away from Kikyo! Please, Kohaku!" Miroku grimaced and turned away from Kohaku and Sango. It was the same thing every time her little brother showed up. Sango would try with all of her heart and soul to release him from Naraku's control, but it was always in vain. And each time she failed, she blamed herself. And Naraku, of course. Yet, it seemed that she blamed herself ABOVE Naraku for Kohaku's imprisonment. Miroku had the idea that she felt she had failed Kohaku as an older sister, unable to free him from the clutches of someone who used him for such horrible deeds. She wanted to save him, but couldn't. And each time she failed, she sunk into a pit of darkness that always nearly killed Miroku. Sango didn't deserve to feel such pain. 'But she will, now. She'll feel it all over again now that he's back. We've tried countless times to free him, but every time it's the same...' Sango suddenly gasped, instantly causing Miroku to snap his eyes back to her flawless face. She was staring down towards the battle grounds with tears in her eyes, a small smile playing over her cherry-blossom lips. Miroku immediately snapped his gaze to Kohaku.

The moment he layed eyes on the boy, he understood Sango's sudden happiness: Kohaku was looking up at his sister.

"Kohaku..." Sango murmured frailly. Kohaku didn't smile or wave or even speak. He only looked up at his sister. Nevertheless, this simple gesture gave Sango an endless well of hope. 'I only pray that, this time, we can save him. If not for Kohaku's sake, then for Sango's...' As Miroku watched, Kohaku turned away from Sango and Miroku to focus back on Naraku's enemies. InuYasha was saying something to Sesshomaru and, after looking up at the two humans riding the two-tail, the taiyoukai gave a short reply as he stared out ahead at Naraku. Miroku and Sango took a moment to exchange worried glances before returning their attention to the battle at hand.

"This could be it, Sango. This could be the LAST battle. Naraku has the other half of the Shikon no Tama to the half that InuYasha and Kagome have put together. If we defeat Naraku today, then everything will be set right. At last, all who Naraku has wronged will be avenged and the damage that he's inflicted will be healed. At last..." Miroku spoke, his voice taking on a dreamy tone as he imagined it. Everything would be peaceful. The Wind Tunnel in his hand would be gone, Sango's family and Miroku's father...they'd be avenged as well. Everything would be right again. He smiled, thinking about it, and looked to Sango. She was looking down at the battlefield with a pained expression over her otherwise gorgeous features. Miroku's smile faded as he gazed at her with sincere concern. "Sango...?" he tested gently, laying a hand on her shoulder, "What is it?" She paused for a second, not yet responding, and slowly turned her head to give him a weak smile.

"Only one of us has a TRUE half jewel, Miroku..." Her voice was fragile and shaky, making Miroku look at her with concern. But now he understood--and considered himself a true idiot.

"Kohaku's shard?" he questioned knowingly, still beating himself up for overlooking Sango's problems. Sango didn't answer. She only looked back down at the battlefield, a forlorn expression marring her beautiful features and slicing through Miroku's very heart. InuYasha and Sesshomaru had begun their attacks now, so Miroku and Sango took their cue. Kilala gained speed and Sango brought Hiraikotsu into position. Time to fight. "I'll save him, Sango. I swear it to you. I'll find a way to save your brother. For you." He squeezed her shoulder once before letting go and grabbing onto his rosary beads. There was going to be Hell to pay for Naraku. He'd already caused so much pain in the lives of others and brought so much destruction upon the world. The monk thought he may have caught Sango giving him an astounded look, but he couldn't be sure. He was too busy concentrating on the battle now that he'd made an oath to the demon slayer. After all of this was over, he was going to tell her something. His face became cold and determined as he stared down at Kohaku. 'For you, Sango. All of this, will be for you...'

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"Sesshomaru, we don't kill the kid, there. Got it?" Sesshomaru turned his whole head to face InuYasha, a feeling of utter annoyance creeping deep into his nerves in a way that suggested it would never leave him. What did his little brother take him for? Sesshomaru was there to HELP InuYasha and his friends, not to emotionally scar one of them to the point of suicide! 'My brother is still a fool, it seems. I would have been insane to expect to teach him everything in one night.' That was fine with Sesshomaru, however, for he enjoyed "teaching" his little brother. And he intended on remaining nearby, even once this had passed, to enforce his lessons with the hanyou.

After last night, Sesshomaru found that his brother held potential to be as great as any other demon lord. They'd need to find a way around the half-demon complication, if that were to become a reality, and he would need to become stronger in both his demonic powers and in his sense of honor. But it was worth all of the trouble if Sesshomaru could make InuTaisho's second son into as powerful a demon lord as his father and himself.

It was worth it for the half-demon he was beginning to consider a brother.

His face resolutely expressionless, as he had finally regained control over the muscles in his face, he spared a glance in Kohaku's direction. He was the human brother of Sango. The same human boy who had attempted to kill Rin at one point in time. 'I remember. He's under Naraku's influence...' Sesshomaru allowed his gaze to lift to the sky and to fall upon the human couple riding the flying feline. They both appeared entirely absorbed with the new arrival of the demon slayer's last remaining relative. Sesshomaru allowed his eyes fall back to Naraku as he sensed an oncoming discussion between the two humans. He glowered menacingly at the tentacle-entwined enemy, drawing on his best efforts to distract himself so as not to overhear Sango and Miroku's conversation. His brother wouldn't have that problem, though, being a half-demon.

It was just as it was with the two swords their father had left for them. While InuYasha would be better suited with Tenseiga, a sword to bring life to those who've been slain, Sesshomaru should have gotten Tetsusaiga, in order to protect his land from those who wish to conquer him for it. Sesshomaru was no fool. He was strong, but Testusaiga would make him stronger. And stronger is, most often than not, better.

Anyway, in the case of Sesshomaru's capability of hearing a conversation taking place forty or so feet above them all while InuYasha remained blissfully unaware... Well, let's just say that the demon lord had the idea that InuYasha would use such an ability to his personal benefit. Contrary to his younger brother's manners and morals, Sesshomaru was hoping to give the humans their privacy. 'For my sake. I wish to silence their conversation for MY sake,' he reminded himself. Of course the Lord of the Western Lands would be disgusted at the woman's petty whining over her murderous brother. Lord Sesshomaru would be most annoyed at such dribble and harbored no desire to suffer through the senseless exchange of words. Besides, the conversation that they seemed to be heading for would be better off falling on InuYasha's ears, considering that it was HIS human friend who seemed to be feeling upset.

"I understand," Sesshomaru spoke, hoping to drown out anything that might have been said between the demon slayer and the lecherous monk. He turned to Naraku and drew Tokijin, his indifferent expression hinting at anger. He tried not to hear, but it was impossible with such perfect senses. It was no use. _This could be it, Sango. This could be the LAST battle. Naraku has the other half of the Shikon no Tama to the half that InuYasha and Kagome have put together. If we defeat Naraku today, then everything will be set right. At last, all who Naraku has wronged will be avenged and the damage that he's inflicted will be healed. At last..._ Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, beginning to tighten his hold on Tokijin's hilt. He couldn't help but form an opinion to that. And it infuriated him. What should he care what the human monk had to say? 'All will be avenged, he says. All damage healed, he says. What about Kohaku? How can he not think of that? He's as poor as InuYasha when it comes to women!' _Sango...?_ A pause, during which Sesshomaru allowed a growl to escape from a murky dungeon deep within him. 'Still ignorant of what he's done...' The taiyoukai's eyes narrowed. _What is it? _'Fool. A mortal fool!' _Only one of us has a TRUE half jewel, Miroku..._ Sango's voice drifted through his ears. What had she meant by that...? As he thought on the strange remark, Sesshomaru realized that he was unusually tense. He forced his muscles to relax with severe effort. How could he permit himself to lose control like that over mere words?

_"How foolish humans are to cause themselves pain for people who care nothing of others. I trust that you sincerely believe that you are hiding your emotions well? How naive." Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he stared at the back of Kagome's head that, as expected, bowed in surrender at his words. Humans fell so easily at mere words. He, himself, would never allow another person's simple utterances to distract him. Words were only words, after all._

Sesshomaru's face formed a truly shocked expression before he had a chance to stop himself. However, his sense almost instantly returned to him and he snatched the shameful look away the very moment that he could. He hastily side-glanced to InuYasha to see if he'd noticed anything. He had, to Sesshomaru's immense humiliation. He felt his face burn as it went taut with rage. He was a demon lord and had a reputation to uphold; pride was essential. 'Yet, that memory...' Sesshomaru thought back on it and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, though his face still faithfully remained in a scowl. He'd been so sure, at that moment four days ago. He'd been absolutely CERTAIN that he could not be felled by words. And yet, if that were true, then why had he been affected by the two humans' conversation? It didn't make any sense at all! 'I must be growing weaker than I previously thought. Perhaps it isn't wise for me to remain with my brother once we've finished here, after all...' _Kohaku's shard?_ Sesshomaru's furious expression grew considerably more intense. Oh, how he wished that he could silence them. 'I came to HELP them, not to KILL them. They might think to return the favor...'

Sesshomaru turned back to Naraku, intending to begin his attack, when a sudden thought ocurred to him. Kohaku's shard...? 'A jewel shard is imbedded in the human boy, then. Naraku must have done it in order to control him.' Sesshomaru's eyes flicked over to his brother, his face relaxing into icy indifference, and then back to Naraku as he launched his attack on him. InuYasha followed, realizing his brother's look had been a gesture to begin the battle. 'He seems to have grown somewhat more intelligent.' Naraku laughed insanely and expanded his thick tangle of tentacles to better ward them off as the two brothers flew at him. He must have been forgetting that he was dealing with the Great Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands. _I'll save him, Sango. I swear it to you. I'll find a way to save your brother. For you._ Sesshomaru smirked at Miroku's words and felt a surge of...what was it? He couldn't pin it down, for some reason. Why was he all of a sudden so flustered with emotions? He couldn't even decide how he felt now? 'Of course I know how I feel! I am neither a half demon nor a human; I am a powerful youkai. The feeling was satisfaction. I was satisfied that the lecherous monk had finally understood what his words were doing to his fellow human.' Sesshomaru felt a quiver of doubt, but his rage overcame it as easily as a tide over a child's sand castle. He was a demon lord, not some fool who paid all his mind to emotions! As Sesshomaru arrived before Naraku, he instantly began slashing aimlessly at about a ton of Naraku's slimy tentacles. In his inexplicable anger, he felt himself release an invisible barrier from the sword that did exceeding damage to the spider hanyou.

"Sesshomaru! Watch out!" Sesshomaru leapt out of the way, but found nothing to retreat from! He turned back to his brother, who had so kindly "warned" him, and gave him the most enraged glower he could muster. InuYasha returned the favor ten-fold. "Were you even AWAKE? Kikyo was only a few feet away from where you were hacking into Naraku!" his hanyou brother shouted, obviously shaken. Sesshomaru looked back at where he'd been attacking and seen that it was true. Next to the gore and mush that had once been about a tenth of Naraku, was Kikyo. She was precariously close to being completely swallowed by Naraku's tentacles. Her head and shoulders were now the only visible parts of her that one could see.

_I'll save him, Sango. I swear it to you. I'll find a way to save your brother. For you._

'Hope! It was hope!' bellowed a voice deep within Sesshomaru as though the taiyoukai was an idiot who'd just missed something unbelievably obvious. He supposed it was referring to the nameless feeling that Sesshomaru had decided was satisfaction. In any case, he knew now, whether he wanted to or not, that he'd been wrong. 'It was hope, then,' he agreed, his eyes flicking to Kikyo. He'd always felt that hope was simply another term for confidence ; he didn't count on that idea changing any time soon, either. He was confident of the outcome of his battles. He always expected to win. He trusted his skills as wholly as if they were an innate truth. But just now he had begun to see a line that separated the two words. Though he was determined to win this battle, a swell of emotions dulled his usual confidence. This particular battle was invoking feelings in him; urgency, anxiety, desire to save the life of his brother's claypot. He was beginning to think that, perhaps, hope was the word used to describe the blend of emotions and confidence he harbored at this moment. 'Why dredge up such petty ideas during such a crucial battle? Why do I dwell on how I feel?' Ignoring a gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't comprehend, Sesshomaru flew towards Kikyo. If he didn't retrieve her in a matter of minutes, then she would perish. Or, rather, the clay vessel she inhabited would be crushed, thereby rendering it useless to sustain the stolen souls of dead women. But he was going to get there on time. He was confident of that.

"Look out, Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin's voice came from somewhere far behind him. Sesshomaru obeyed and looked off to the right of himself where a curved blade reached out for his throat. The blade was connected to a handle. And the handle was connected to a chain. And the chain was connected to a boy who seemed to want to test Lord Sesshomaru's patience.

Kohaku.

Sesshomaru looked upon the young boy with mild indifference; Kohaku stared back at him with a similar expression. Neither of the two spoke. A sacred arrow whizzed between them from the general direction of where he'd heard Rin. He didn't look, but he supposed that it was Kagome attacking Naraku. He never broke eye contact with Kohaku, even while the arrow had scraped against his armor.

"I haven't time for you, human," Sesshomaru spoke icily. Kohaku raised his weapon, his face as serene as ever, with the clear intent to strike the demon lord. Sesshomaru flipped out his Poison Whip, lightly brushing the child over the shoulder before he could dodge. He instantly fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

"KOHAKU!" the child's sister screamed from above. He felt it unnecessary to communicate with her, however, and instead spoke to Kohaku's peaceful face.

"You might be a talented demon slayer, Kohaku, but I am a demon lord. Naraku's hold on you should not affect your understanding of such a simple concept." Sesshomaru turned to Naraku and found that Kikyo's neck had been covered with tentacles during the wasted time with Sango's brother. He ran towards her in all of his demonic speed, knowing that he didn't have much time. It was nearly impossible, as it stood.

All of a sudden, he felt something collide into him from behind and fell to the hard, rocky earth. Whatever had hit him had been big, heavy, and travelling painfully fast. It took all of his strength to pull himself back to his feet again. He turned around and seen Sango jumping down from the enormous cat, her Hiraikotsu firmly in hand. Sesshomaru was sure that it had been that weapon which had knocked him to the ground so forcefully. His eyes narrowed at her, but he soon saw something glimmer in her eyes.

Tears.

Even as he watched, she darted over to her brother and started shaking him as though she was rousing him from sleep. But shaking him wouldn't wake him, Sesshomaru knew. 'I haven't time for this nonsense! I must carry out the deed that I've come all of this way to accomplish!' Sesshomaru turned back around angrily, incensed with the knowledge that he had little time left, and located Kikyo again. Only half of her head poked out from beneath Naraku's tentacles now. 'Damn...' He began to run, but then he felt something ELSE come at him from behind. It wasn't knocking him down, though. It was pulling him IN!

"WIND TUNNEL!" Sesshomaru felt his feet lift off of the ground as he began to fly towards the monk's right hand. He tried to turn in midair to find something to grab onto, but it was no use. 'Why did I ever agree to help these fools?!' Kagome's pleading eyes flew before him. 'Because she, a human, saved Rin, another human, I'm meeting my demise at the hands of ANOTHER human. Pathetic.' All of a sudden, Sesshomaru felt the suction cease and fell to the ground, landing on his feet quite adeptly despite his surprise.

"DADDY!" Rin exclaimed, trying to break free of a pink mini-jail that Sesshomaru instantly recognized as Shippo. Sesshomaru, however, was already quite preoccupied with the shock of what Rin had just referred to him as. She'd just called him "Daddy," hadn't she? He'd already determined that she'd thought him such a figure, but...but how had she just confirmed it all for him with that one word? How had another simple word affected him so deeply? As Sesshomaru watched on, Rin finally realized that she could slip through the bars Shippo had created of himself and was at his side in moments. "Sesshomaru-sama! I thought you were going to die! I was so scared!" Sesshomaru stared down at her, incredulous. "What is it, Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked innocently, making Sesshomaru break out of his dazed trance. He smiled down at her fondly.

"Nothing at all, Rin. Go back to Shippo and stay away from the battle. Obviously, I have an explanation to give to InuYasha's friends before we are permitted to rescue Kikyo." Rin looked surprised for a moment before bowing and smiling happily at him.

"Right!" she chirped, turning away and skipping off towards Shippo. But as Sesshomaru watched her go, she turned back around with a thoughtful look over her face. She smiled at him and said, "No matter what happens, though, we'll never truly be apart--not even if Sesshomaru-sama DOES die. Because friendships really are forever! Right, Kagome?" Rin's calm demeanor was reassuring to Sesshomaru. Even in the midst of such a dangerous battle, she felt safe and cheerful. Sesshomaru didn't doubt for a moment that Rin's peace of mind was a result of Kagome's talk of eternal bonds of friendship. Rin looked over to Kagome as she addressed her, so Sesshomaru followed Rin's example. The miko stood next to Miroku, her hand over his, as she folded his own fingers over his deadly Wind Tunnel. She'd been the one who'd stopped Sesshomaru from spending the rest of eternity in god only knows where? 'Why am I not surprised...?' The monk was looking at her as though she were some sort of strange alien. Kagome smiled at Rin, nodding in agreement. Any fool could see that her smile was only half-hearted.

"Forever is forever, Rin-chan. We'll all always be best friends, no matter what. Nothing can REALLY separate us. Not even death..." Kagome's voice was soft and guiding, though she was obviously shaken by what had just happened. Sesshomaru liked this tone she'd suddenly taken on, however. It was strangely calming.

"Rin. Go to Shippo now," Sesshomaru instructed evenly. Rin immediately did as she was told, skipping the entire way. Sesshomaru looked to Miroku with a touch of menace. The Wind Tunnel was a powerful weapon and Sesshomaru hadn't liked being on the receiving end. Not at all. "I did not kill Kohaku, Monk. Is it usually in your nature to attack those who mean to assist you? Kikyo is probably nonexistant thanks to your incredible ignorance," Sesshomaru spoke coolly, quietly, carefully. Kagome was watching him with something of surprise and had released Miroku's hand. The monk began wrapping the rosary beads around the Wind Tunnel, choosing to remain silent, so Sesshomaru turned and walked towards Sango and Kohaku. When she saw that he was coming over, Sango gave him a look that left the demon lord under the impression that she thought him a famished beast of some sort. She stood and blocked his path to Kohaku, who lay just behind her. Sesshomaru looked at her with annoyance.

"Very well. I don't claim to be your friend, so you aren't expected to treat me as such. However," he reached into his armor and withdrew a small vile of clear liquid, "I remain your teammate, for the time being. Give your brother a few drops of this antidote and it will accelerate his recovery. I don't believe that he's in need of it, but if it will set your mind at ease, I don't see the point in withholding it." She still looked at him doubtfully, so he set it on the ground with a scowl. Why must she distrust him so very much? Hadn't he proven himself once already? On the other hand, she DID think that he had just attempted to murder her little brother; that was BOUND to cause a mood swing or two. She picked up the corked vile and looked at it uncertainly. Sesshomaru read her mind. "It isn't poison. I have no use for bottled poison when I have such strength and my Tokijin at my side. Not to mention, the inherent weapon which delivers lethal doses of poison with a single flick of my wrist. Why would I bother with anything less? However, wouldn't it appear more likely that I keep an antidote to my Poison Whip in order to save those who might inadvertently place themselves in my line of fire?" Sango looked to him questioningly and he answered by glancing just behind her. She turned slightly and looked out of the corner of her eye. Some yards away, Rin played a strange game of tag with the kitsune...who ran, but did not appear to be participating in the activity. The demon lord had the idea that Rin had found a new Jaken to annoy. And speaking of the toad, where might he have been these past four days? Sango turned back around and looked at him with surprise. Sesshomaru turned around and looked to Naraku. "It might be too late to save Kikyo, but there's still the matter of Naraku's demise. Where might InuYasha have run off to? I suppose he made himself scarce once he witnessed Kikyo's second passing?" Sesshomaru suggested, looking over his shoulder at Kagome and Miroku.

"I'm afraid that Kikyo isn't the only one in peril over my hasty reaction. InuYasha went after Kikyo at the same time you started towards her. He's under the tentacles with her." Sesshomaru felt his blood run cold.

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

"I'm afraid that Kikyo isn't the only one in peril over my hasty reaction. InuYasha went after Kikyo at the same time you started towards her. He's under the tentacles with her." Kagome understood why Miroku blamed himself for InuYasha's sudden danger. If he hadn't delayed Sesshomaru, then InuYasha would have had an extra hand against Naraku. Kagome felt her eyes begin to sting, but closed them tightly and reopened them. Sesshomaru would save InuYasha and everything would be okay! Everything...would be okay. Kagome looked up at Sesshomaru, determined to give InuYasha and Kikyo the happily ever after that they deserved.

"Sesshomaru, we have to save them! InuYasha AND Kikyo!" Sesshomaru didn't even look at her. He didn't look at ANYBODY, for that matter. He just seemed to be frozen, looking over his shoulder at Miroku. "Ses...Sesshomaru-chan? Are you...okay?" Sesshomaru's face formed a look of utter rage as he let out a mighty roar into the heavens. The sound echoed throughout the land, quaking through Kagome's very soul. She jumped in shocked surprise, as did Miroku and Sango. Rin and Shippo quit "playing" and looked over at the Lord of the Western Lands in fear and disbelief. Had Sesshomaru...just let out a huge roar? Kagome, however, knew just what was happening. She couldn't believe that it could happen to SESSHOMARU, of all demons, though! Not the demon who was always so controlled and calm! Yet, right before her eyes, Sesshomaru's golden irises were overcome with a blood-red hue that spread even to the whites of his eyes. His face began to elongate and his claws grew even longer than usual. "No, Sesshomaru! NO!" Kagome didn't like it when InuYasha flipped out like this; it was never good. "No! Who will help us defeat Naraku if you lose yourself! Who will save Kikyo and InuYasha! SESSHOMARU! NOOO!" Sesshomaru's body began to grow at an alarming rate, changing into the form in which InuYasha had chopped his arm off. Kagome leapt onto him, but still he grew, paying her no mind at all.

Soon, he was a full-grown dog demon, towering miles into the sky with Kagome sitting atop his shoulders.

"Oh, boy, Kagome Higurashi. What have you gotten yourself into THIS time?" Kagome grabbed two fistfuls of fur and held on for dear life. Luckily, she wasn't afraid of heights, having dealt with worse in the feudal era. The beast that Kagome was forced to believe was Sesshomaru began to run at the now-miniscule Naraku. "Wow, you'll squash him like a little bug in this form!" Kagome said aloud to the dog demon. He grunted. Kagome's eyes grew wide with shocked disbelief. "No way...that you can..." Another grunt. "You can understand me!"

"Of course I can," the giant dog demon answered, almost causing Kagome to let go of her fur-handles. Her eyes had only grown wider at Sesshomaru's voice emitting from the enormous beast's jowls and they now appeared to be stuck that way. She tried to say "Oh my God," but it only came out as various crackles. "I see that you expected me to become a mindless fool like my brother? I have control, even in this form, because of my full-blooded lineage." Kagome finally managed to wipe the stunned look off of her face. She looked out towards Naraku, baffled by the sudden understanding of it all.

"Right. Control. Full-demon. Let's rescue InuYasha and Kikyo now, ne?" Sesshomaru laughed, causing Kagome to bounce between his two-acre wide shoulder blades. Talk about broad shoulders!

"Of course. But if we just STEP on Naraku, as you've suggested, then they'll be killed as well." Kagome reached behind her and retrieved her bow, grabbing an arrow from her quiver while she was at it.

"You keep Naraku off of me and I'll fire arrows, kay?"

"Right."

"Can't have you doing that, now, Priestess. You'll ruin all of Naraku's plans," a feminine voice came from off to the side, causing Kagome to aim her bow and arrow in that direction. Kagome's eyes narrowed at the figure upon the flying feather. The miko had been wondering when she'd show up to complicate matters.

"And what does that matter to you, Kagura? Aren't you the one who keeps trying to get him killed when he's not looking?" Kagome snorted, taking careful aim at Kagura's heart with her arrow. Kagura smiled and Kagome was reminded that Kagura HAD no heart--neither physically nor emotionally. She clutched her bow tighter in her fist.

"That's not the point, today, Priestess. I've been promised my heart in return for the new special helper that Naraku's taken a shine to." Kagome's eyes narrowed further as she watched Kagura's smile become more malicious. She really hated it when that woman was happy about anything. It never brought good news for anyone who opposed Naraku.

"And who might that be, exactly?" the miko asked in a low voice, not sure if she wanted to know the answer or not. Kagura laughed out loud and Kagome felt herself lift off of Sesshomaru's back by an invisible force. She'd been right; she HADN'T wanted to know the answer. "Sesshomaru! Help!" she called out, flailing in mid-air like some sort of stroke victim.

"Why," Kagura gave her a cruel look of mock surprise, "you, of course! Now that Naraku has decided on killing Kikyo, we need a new jewel doctor. Without you, the jewel can't become whole again. So, come along and let's get me my freedom..." Sesshomaru turned suddenly and bit at Kagura, but before Kagome knew what was happening, SHE was the one before the beast's collossal fangs! "Tsk, tsk, tsk! Don't want to hurt your new little friend, now do you?" Sesshomaru paused for a moment, his steamy dog breath wafting from his open jowls and blasting over Kagome's hovering figure. She made a face at the stench. 'I'm definitely introducing this era to tic-tacs...' As Kagome watched, Sesshomaru drew his cavernous mouth away from her and chomped it shut, glowering murderously at Kagura. "What? Is the Great Lord Sesshomaru really so helpless over a mere human girl?" Kagura gave him a look of disgust while Kagome gazed at him in astounded wonder. She hadn't really expected Sesshomaru to swallow her along with Kagura but...but why HADN'T he, really? Maybe he just wasn't angry enough at Kagura to sacrifice the girl that he'd been taking care of for the past week...maybe. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and he brought his front paw up--his only front paw--and swiped at Kagura, standing on his hind legs temporarily. He reminded Kagome of a circus elephant with fur. Kagura released Kagome in her surprise but, while one might expect her to be glad over it, Kagome was feeling a little anxious. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was plummetting seventy feet to her death? Just as she opened her mouth to scream, however, she landed atop something unbelievably soft: the top of Sesshomaru's head. What's more? Just as Kagome was being unknowingly rescued by Sesshomaru, his Lordship's mouth closed over on Kagura. Kagome felt the great dog demon swallow and knew that Kagura was no more.

"Um...tasty?" Kagome asked sarcastically. Sesshomaru seemed too surprised for a moment to respond (he mustn't have known that she'd managed to land on his head...), but then Kagome felt his shoulders lift slightly. A small snort of laughter?

"Bitter, actually." Kagome laughed, making herself comfortable among the down-like fur of Sesshomaru's skull, before turning back to stare at the distant Naraku who stood so many miles below them. "Strange that he allowed them both to die so carelessly. He's entirely alone now," said Sesshomaru, causing Kagome to slip off of the top of his head as his mouth rapidly opened and closed. From her position, it felt like he was doing some sort of headbanger. At that idea, Kagome received a hilarious vision of Sesshomaru as the lead singer of the KISS band. She laughed as she scaled down the nape of the dog demon's neck, using his fur to hang from as she went. As she thought of what he'd said, though, she sobered again.

"Mm, even Kohaku has been put out of commission. No Kohaku, no Kanna, no Kagura. What could he be planning?" Kagome wondered aloud as she settled herself in the ridge of Sesshomaru's shoulder blades.

"My instinct is telling me that this was all premeditated, Kagome..." he confided solemnly. Kagome's brow furrowed in worry, but she was determined to keep Sesshomaru's spirits up. The battle would call for them both to be at their sharpest wits.

"Let's go and save InuYasha before he suffocates to death under there," she offered, deftly changing topics. And with that, they were starting off towards Naraku once again. Kagome wasn't worried about InuYasha dying at all. Because she knew that his older brother wouldn't allow his younger sibling to die. Sesshomaru would protect InuYasha. Sesshomaru would save everybody. She reached back for another arrow, having dropped the last when Kagura snatched her up. This battle would be over soon. And they'd be the victors.


	9. Chapter 9: Atonement

**Chapter Nine:**_Atonement_

_**InuYasha's Point-Of-View**_

...Glurp...

...Plop...

...Phiiiiish...sh...shhhh...

Ah, sweet melodies from the otherwise silent mass of Naraku's tentacles. Yeah, right. If "sweet" qualified as the disgusting things slowly and painfully squeezing the very life out of a particular puppy-eared hanyou, then sweet just got a Hell of a lot more sour. Needless to say, InuYasha wasn't liking his current predicament. Not one little bit.

"Get your slimy body OFF of me! Wind Scar!" he bellowed, trying to slice through the many tentacles, but with little success. His mobility was greatly compromised and the attack wasn't carried out properly. What damage Tetsusaiga HAD managed to inflict with the weakened blow was quickly undone as more tentacles moved in and took the destroyed ones place. He scowled bitterly. "Damn!" He viciously bit and tore at Naraku, managing to fight some of the tentacles back. "Kikyo! Where are you?! KIKYO!" he shouted, forcibly turning his body as he called for her and clawing violently so as not to allow the tentacles to close in on him.

The silence was deafening, yet again.

"Kikyo! Don't you DARE give up on me! Do you hear me?! Kikyo! Say something already!" He was so tightly wrapped in Naraku's pulsating tentacles that it sounded as though his voice was emitting from within his own head. It was muffled, like speaking through a thick door. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" He brought his clawed hand through the closest wall of tentacles and forced his way though the oozing, gaping hole, the tiny area he once stood in closing behind him as he entered a space of equal size. "Kikyo! I'm coming for you, so you'd just better wait! Are you hearing me, woman?!" He was calling out like a madman, panicking on the inside even as his voice dripped with a kind of defiance that could eat through metal.

Stubborn was to InuYasha what indifference was to Sesshomaru. No matter what happened, you had to keep that up; otherwise, you didn't have any control over anything. If he became weak, allowing his fear for Kikyo's life to overcome his impertinent attitude, he would lose. He would lose control over his level head and be maddened by the sudden weight of his situation...

He had to keep it together if he was going to get to her in time! "Kikyo!" He gritted his teeth as his claws flew through more of Naraku's putrid flesh. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer! Kikyo, I'm coming! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" Claw, step through. Claw, step through. Claw, step through. This was his plan. It wasn't much, but he hoped to eventually run into Kikyo. Actually, he did a whole lot more than hope.

He begged and prayed.

And so it continued. InuYasha would tear a hole through Naraku, step into the new opening while the previous would close in, and contantly call out for Kikyo. InuYasha's determined expression threatened to fall away as he thought, 'Kikyo, stay with me this time! We were almost there. We were almost exactly how we were back then...' InuYasha's expression softened for a moment, still determinedly digging through Naraku's innards as he searched for Kikyo. "Don't do this, Kikyo! Not after all we've been through! Not after the death and rebirth and all of that damned TIME-TRAVEL! You'd better wait for me, YOU STUPID HUMAN!" he bellowed into the nothingness, his fists clenched in rage as a heartwarming memory of Kikyo swept through him. It had been just before Naraku had shown up and taken her, causing everything to fall back into Hell again. She'd smiled. Kikyo had smiled just like she always had fifty years ago. And InuYasha had smiled back. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer! IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!"

_**Sango's Point-Of-View**_

Rin was kneeling over Kohaku with Shippo, curious as she stared down at the boy's quiet face. Sango was holding on to the the vile of antidote, glaring at it as though Sesshomaru had placed some sort of curse on her with it. Which he most certainly had, if you looked at it from her position. Sesshomaru had given her the choice of whether or not to trust him. It was left to her and her alone to decide whether or not she used the supposed antidote.

What's that have to do with Sesshomaru "cursing" her? Lots.

If she decided that the taiyoukai was telling the truth about the vile of liquid being an antidote and used it, then what if it turned out to be poison after all? Despite the, admittedly, practical points that he'd pointed out, there was always that margin of possibility. And then if he HADN'T lied about his Poison Whip's attack on her brother being harmless, then she'd be poisoning her brother and killing him. Or, even if Sesshomaru HAD lethally poisoned him, using the possibly poisonous "antidote" could actually _accelerate_ her brother's death.

Okay. Fine. So maybe she decides that the vile IS poison, and decides not to use it. Turns out, Sesshomaru hadn't been lying after all and had given her the actual antidote...but, though she held the very thing that could save him in her hand, she chose not to use it. Kohaku's dead and, again, it's all her fault.

In either case, Sesshomaru would be as smug as Hell because he'd been so damned shady about the whole ordeal and had proven how pathetic the human race is. Sango couldn't help but distrust the Lord of the Western Lands. All that she'd known him to be was the enemy. And now she was supposed to trust him all of a sudden and treat him as a "teammate?" This wasn't exactly something that was going to happen overnight for her. ESPECIALLY not for her. She was a demon slayer and Sesshomaru was a demon. Hm, how about..._NO_!

No.

No!

NO!

She couldn't trust someone who'd been their enemy for so long with her little brother's life! No, there had to be some other way...

Then, something occurred to her.

She looked down at the vile, a small smile overtaking her features. She knew what she had to do! But it would be dangerous, possibly even deadly. She uncorked the slim vile and looked down at her little brother, well aware of Shippo and Rin's watchful gazes. She turned back to the vile and brought it to her lips, taking a few sips of the bland liquid. Shippo and Rin gasped before Sango corked the vile again, looking back at them with a faint smile.

All there was left to do now was wait.

"Sango! What have you done?! What if it was poison?!" Miroku's voice sounded far away when he called to her, but it was steadily growing more distinct as he ran up to stand behind her. She didn't move a muscle. He came to a complete halt right behind her, seemingly too shocked to do anything more than just stand there for the moment. She didn't look back at him, feeling a paralyzing chill rippling over her body at the realization that she'd just carried out a potentially-fatal deed. She might die in as little as a few moments or in as long as a few hours--assuming that the vile contained poison, that is. And, considering Sesshomaru, she prepared herself for death. Miroku eventually came back to his senses and, feeling two strong hands firmly grasp her shoulders, Sango was turned around to face the monk. The tips of their noses were two centimeters away from touching, but neither of them seemed to be thinking of that. The tormented demon slayer met his indigo-blue eyes with as much bravery as she ever possessed.

"Better me than him..." She smiled, tears welling up in her big brown eyes. Miroku looked down at her with concern and something of anger, but Sango paid him no mind. How could he be angry about this? Didn't he understand...? She went on to justify her decision further. "How could I live with poisoning my little brother? How could I if I'd known that I'd done it with my own two hands?" She felt the tears slip down her cheeks and Miroku started in surprise. His eyes softened with concern as he pulled her to his chest, sighing deeply. Sango fully relaxed in his arms, knowing that he wouldn't try anything perverse in such a serious situation.

"Sango," he murmured into her ear, "you're too independent for your own good. I only wished to fulfill a single vow to you, but you never fail to rush ahead, do you?" Sango shook her head slightly against his chest and smiled. She hoped that this wouldn't be the end of her because...because, after this, she had something important to tell him. When a person is faced with only a few hours to live, they think of many things. But Sango only thought of two. One was her brother, and the other...

She smiled.

"I won't...anymore," she replied quietly as Miroku squeezed her shoulders a bit tighter. Shippo and Rin just stared on at them in shocked amazement.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

_Sango, you're too independent for your own good. I only wished to fulfill a single vow to you, but you never fail to rush ahead, do you?_ A brief pause between the two humans. Within the last hour, Sesshomaru had come to openly despise the oddly matched pair. After all, one had tried to banish him to the endless depths of his left hand while the other one had just taken the actual antidote to his Poison Whip in order to test it for lethal substances. What a pathetic couple of humans he had managed to nab as teammates. One attempts to kill him and the other is overly suspicious of him. What terribly wonderful allies. He'd be lucky if they didn't attack him before Naraku. _I won't...anymore._

Sesshomaru growled deep in his throat, still standing as a proud dog-demon, and glared at Naraku in the distance. He'd quit walking some time ago, realizing that there was very little that he could do in this form as far as rescue missions were concerned. No matter what angle he looked at it from, the attacks he issued as an enormous inu-youkai would put InuYasha and Kikyo in the same amount of danger as his enemy. He planned on returning to normal in a few more moments--which was why he was staring off into space like a fool. What was he supposed to do when Kagome began shrieking at the top of her lungs? After all, his clothes had been ripped to tatters when he'd transformed. Meaning that when he returned to normal, he would be stark naked. (Author's Note: ... _**Blush/Smirk**_) Modesty wasn't normally his strongest virtue, even less so when he had an important goal to reach, but Kagome had an unbearably shrill voice when she set her mind to it and his ears were all too sensitive to withstand such an agonizing pitch. He supposed he could warn her beforehand...that might do.

"Kagome," Sesshomaru began, still glowering menacingly at Naraku.

"Mm?" she prompted absently from his shoulder blades. She seemed much too relaxed, in his opinion. Was she trying to take a nap? This was certainly a drastic change, compared to the fact that only a week ago he would not have allowed her to touch him in any way, shape, or form. And he was sure that a few looks aimed his way would have been off-limits for the human, as well. But look at THIS bizarre scene! A human napping on his back! 'For the third time...' he added wearily. "You stopped walking. Why? Did you figure out that there's no way that you can attack in this form?" That caught Sesshomaru off-guard. She was more intelligent than he had previously given her credit for. Still, she was acting so calm and collected; that wasn't usually Kagome. What was the matter with her NOW? Actually, as he thought about it, since when did the Lord of the Western Lands know what was usual for Kagome and what wasn't? This had been the most indescribable week of his life. He fought the urge to inquire if anything was the matter as he said, in as frigid a tone as possible,

"Yes, and that is why I am returning to my semi-human form..." he trailed off, hoping she'd take the hint. She didn't.

"O...kay. Do you want me to climb down your leg then, or do you expect me to jump?" Sesshomaru released a sigh of absolute dread at the prospect of having to actually explain it to her. "Um...what?" Kagome asked, unnervingly clueless. How naive could this girl be?

"For your personal comfort, I recommend adverting your eyes." Kagome was silent for a few moments, leaving Sesshomaru to wait blindly in the awkward predicament. Soon, however, she gave out a long, exaggerated "ohhhh" followed by a series of more uncomfortable "oh"s as she came to a full understanding of what he'd meant. Then she gave a small jump as she said,

"Oh! (Hopefully the last "oh" he'd hear from her for awhile...) Wait a minute! I have an idea!" Kagome exclaimed, the wide smile unable to be missed as it overtook her voice. Sesshomaru could barely make out his brother's voice in the distance, obviously bellowing "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer" from within Naraku's blanket of tentacles. 'Good. My little brother is still alive.' Kagome heard nothing, as she was only human, and went on to explain her earlier idea. "Turn back to normal over there in the bushes and I'll give you something to wear! I'm so glad I have my backpack!" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow before glancing over to said bushes. He shrugged, making Kagome bounce into the air with a small squeal, and layed down on the ground.

"Slide down," he commanded tonelessly. Kagome seemed too surprised to comply with the demand for a few moments, but soon he felt her twist back and forth upon his back (she must have been shaking herself back to sense...) and obey. Sesshomaru stepped over a small patch of trees, leaving the human to rummage through her large, yellow luggage-carrier, and released all tension from his muscles. He forced himself to forget his younger brother's extreme danger and abandon his earlier rage. After all, Rin was safe and Kagome wasn't in any immediate danger, either. Soon, everything would be solved. He'd destroy Naraku the moment he shrunk back to his usual self and then his brother would be safe as well. He felt slightly satisfied with this and, intending to return to his normal state, closed his eyes. As soon as they were closed, he saw Rin and Kagome laughing back at the castle as they sat on Kagome's bed with the little straw doll. His only two wards, of whom he'd grown so fond...

When he opened his eyes, he was back to normal again. And naked. (_**Blushie**_...)

When he realized he was smiling, he mentally raked it from his face with unnecessary vigor and scowled in outstanding fury. What was happening to him? Why was he smiling? Why was he happy? Why was he feeling any of this at the mere THOUGHT of those two human wenches? He let out a huge roar of rage and felt himself begin to change again. He promptly calmed himself down again. He didn't need to do that all over again.

He knew what was wrong with him now. He didn't like it, but he knew.

There wasn't ANYTHING wrong with him. Nothing at all.

At least not while those two were safe.

He sighed, not wanting to understand or believe that it was the truth. But he did. He wasn't a fool who disregarded whatever information he didn't take favor to. He knew that the reason he was happy was because Kagome and Rin were safe and were with him. He was glad that they were by his side. He was weak, because he couldn't allow anything to happen to them. Weak, because if it came to that, he would surrender any battle to keep them from harm.

Weak...

_Love makes a person weak in all sorts of ways, though. So he isn't completely wrong, is he, Chisa? If he falls in love someday, then he WILL be weak..._

"Sesshomaru! Sesshomaru, are you o--?" Sesshomaru turned as he heard Kagome's voice coming from behind him, but instantly realized that it was a mistake. Kagome pushed back a few tree branches, clutching a long piece of blue material in her fist, before she seen him. Scarlet didn't even describe the shade of her face. "Oh! Um, I...I didn't mean to...to--EEEEEEEEK!" Sesshomaru had already hidden himself behind a tree before she could see too much, thanks to his demonic reflexes, but it still hadn't spared him Kagome's endless shriek. His knees wavered threateningly, almost sending Sesshomaru to the ground, as he painfully dug his claws into his temples. She was so LOUD! He darted over to her, moving as swiftly as he could for decency's sake, and yanked the clothing away from her. Thankfully, her eyes had been shut tightly as she squealed, ensuring that she did not see any more than she may have already had. She quit shrieking as he disappeared behind a cluster of bushes, impatiently pulling the blue-satin bottoms up to waist. They were nearly two feet shorter than his legs, as he noted with mild distaste. He came out from behind the bushes and pulled on the top. Which instantly ripped down the seams. "Hey! That was my favorite pair of pajamas!" Kagome's voice scolded from a yard away. She wasn't blushing anymore and her voice had, thankfully, returned to its usual pitch. Though it was still rather louder than he preferred...

"We have a battle to fight, Kagome, and two friends in need of rescue. Being such, mourning the loss of a meaningless article of clothing some other time would be most helpful." Kagome just stared at him, face blank, before breaking out in a huge grin. Sesshomaru felt a twinge of annoyance, as was custom when spending any length of time with a conscious Kagome. "What is the matter with you now, human? Have you misinterpreted my meaning again...?" he asked, though not able to recall any circumstance that he'd ever believed her of doing such. Kagome shut her eyes, her smile softening, before reopening them and meeting Sesshomaru's steady gaze. Sesshomaru watched her with a trace of bewilderment slipping into his indifferent expression. What he wouldn't give to know how that girl's mind worked.

"You just called InuYasha and Kikyo your friends..." Kagome said softly, her smile never fading. Sesshomaru almost glowered, but the feeling passed quickly. He walked past her, dropping the ruined top into her hands as he went.

"So I did."

_**Shippo's Point-Of-View**_

"EEEEEEEK!" Shippo jumped a mile into the air as he heard Kagome's signature scream emit from the forest. A moment ago, he'd watched as Sesshomaru, who had become a giant dog-demon, shrink beneath the tree tops to return to his semi-human form. And then Kagome had followed after him with something blue clutched in her hand, leaving her backpack behind. Shippo spun around and began to run towards the forest.

"Shippo-chan! No! You have to stay here where it's safe!" Rin's voice came from behind him as she pulled him back by the shirt collar, halting him mid-step. Shippo angrily turned to her, making her cringe away with a grimace. She released his shirt as her hands clasped together at her chest. Shippo blinked at her, surprised.

"I don't hit girls, you know. You don't have to be afraid." Rin seemed uncertain for a moment before relaxing. She smiled at him happily.

"Okay!" She seemed thoughtful for a moment, but didn't say anything, so Shippo turned around and started towards the forest again. "No! Wait! Sesshomaru-sama told me to stay with you! You can't just run off and leave me here!" Shippo continued walking, trying his best to ignore her. He was already trying to find a way out of it HIMSELF without HER trying to dissuade him as well! He wasn't like Myouga; he didn't like to bail on his friends when they needed him most. He was scared, but he had to help Kagome!

"I gotta help my friends, Rin! Stay here with Sango and Miroku!" Shippo then took off at a run, leaving her to stand dumbly in the wake. Or that had been the plan until he was practically pounced on from behind. Rin had dove at him, knocking him to the ground.

"No! Let me come with you! If you don't, then I'll...then I'll..." Shippo was about to turn into his giant balloon form when Rin did something really unusual: she threatened him. She gasped and exclaimed, "Then I'll tell Sesshomaru-sama that you abandoned me here when I was getting attacked by demons!" Shippo's eyes went as wide as dinnerplates as he turned around (with much difficulty, as she was still atop him.)

"You wouldn't! He'd rip me apart!" Rin bit her lip, seeming to be reconsidering, before looking down at him with the same look she gave the toad.

"I would! Kagome's my friend, too! Besides! What if she was screaming because her and Lord Sesshomaru were being attacked?" Shippo took a minute to hold his determined expression, wondering what would be more manly of him to do. Leaving her behind with Sango and Miroku, thereby guaranteeing her safety, or allowing her to come with him and face certain danger. He smirked. Allowing her to face certain danger in which HE could protect her from like the tough guy that he was?

"Okay, then! As of right now, you are MY ward. I'll protect you from demons until Sesshomaru comes back for you. Got it?" Rin's smile reached from ear-to-ear as she pulled him up into her arms, landing a small kiss on his cheek. He felt his face turn a bright red.

"Thank you so much, Shippo-chan! I promise not to bug you like I do Jaken!" She huggled him, squeezing him rather tightly, and nuzzled her face into his shirt. She smiled wider than anyone he'd ever met. 'Hm, so she DOES understand that she annoys that toad...'

"Hey! Cut it out! You don't do this when SESSHOMARU protects you, do you?!" Rin stopped and looked down at Shippo, confused.

"He's too tall," she answered, as if that explained everything. Shippo got an idea then.

"So am I." He immediately transformed into Sesshomaru, complete with tail, before Rin could ask what he'd meant. She gaped up at him, confused, yet delighted.

"Wow! That's amazing, Shippo-chan!" She glanced down at his tail as it twitched. Then she giggled. "And the tail is really cute!" Shippo almost contradicted her, saying that it WASN'T cute and that he was learning how to get rid of it, when he was distracted by her laughter. It was fun watching her smile like that. Her laughter seemed to take up all of her face, spreading everywhere. All he could see was two thin slivers of brown where her eyes were supposed to be and a big, toothy grin. How could ANYONE smile so widely? And how did she keep it up for so long? He was thinking that her cheeks would have to get tired eventually... She was always so cheerful! It unnerved him somewhat.

"Okay, then! We're going!" He stared down at her for a moment before turning around and walking towards the forest. Rin came up to follow alongside him and grabbed on to his hand. His only hand? "Where'd Sesshomaru's other arm go?" Shippo asked before he could stop himself. He'd probably just pointed out that his oh-so-wonderful transformation skills had left "Sesshomaru" deformed.

"InuYasha cut it off," Rin answered non-chalantly. Shippo sputtered.

"WHAT?" A large cloud crept over them before Rin could answer, causing the two of them to look up at a huge wave of flying demons.

"Shippo-chan! What am I supposed to do?!" Rin's voice came from somewhere to his left. Shippo was too busy concentrating on the upcoming fight against the numerous demons above him. He was skeptical that he'd be able to kill even one of them. "Shippo-chan! Please?! What do you...want me to do?" Shippo looked down at her, his face full of concern. Or, rather, Sesshomaru's face was full of concern.

He grabbed her up and began to run like a coward.

It cost him every bit of pride to run like that, but he knew that he had no chance. He would have fought anyway, but if something were to happen to him, he'd be leaving Rin to fend for herself. 'Can't let my ward die...' His ego puffed up a little at that realization. Yep, he was doing this to keep Rin safe. Maybe he wasn't as big of a wimp as Myouga, then...?

Something bit into his back and he fell to the ground, eyes wide, with Rin pinned beneath him.

"Shippo-chan! Shippo-chan! What's the matter?!" Rin shouted, her voice shaking. She was scared...

"Relax! I'm a demon! I'll protect you, remember?" Shippo turned around slightly to get better access to his mid-back and performed Fox Fire. The demon, small and just _slightly_ less powerful than the kitsune, perished easily. "Now, c'mon! We've gotta get back to the others and help fight! Ack!" Another bite. This was getting to become routine. "Fox Fi--Argh!" Another bite...and then another...and another! Rin was going mad with fear at this point. Shippo looked down at her, beginning to panic, and smiled a little. He felt a drop of blood form at the corner of his mouth, but disregarded it. "You'll be okay. I'll protect you." Shippo, tasting the metal flavor of blood, knew that his brain was calmly disagreeing with that statement. But he was going to hold up to his word, one way or another. He wrapped himself all the way around Rin, like some sort of snake coiling around a tree, and closed his eyes to better focus on transforming. It was difficult, since he was losing so much blood and demons were still biting into him at regular intervals. That, and Rin was beginning to wriggle, confused as to why Shippo was clutching onto her like a scared little child. He had to protect her. She was his ward, right? Then he had to keep her safe. He...had to...

He heard a loud pop and, when he opened his eyes again, he was looking in at Rin. He was a giant balloon, but he had put Rin inside to keep her safe. He felt at least twenty more demons bite into him simultaneously. He winced, but Rin was safe. Confused, as it appeared, but safe. He closed his eyes and sighed before more demons bit into him.

"Now I...I really am...a tough guy..." he grumbled sarcastically through the stabbing pain. Rin looked up at him with tears in her eyes at his words. He guessed that she WASN'T always so cheerful, after all...

_**Miroku's Point-Of-View**_

"Wind Tunnel!" Miroku had seen Shippo and Rin getting attacked by demons some ways away and had started to go after them when he and Sango were confronted with a little army of themselves. He hoped that the little guy could handle his own battle...for all their sakes. After all, not only would it kill him to see a little girl die so young, but Sesshomaru would MURDER anyone still alive when he found out. Anyway, back to his own battle--oh, it was over. He really didn't hate his Wind Tunnel all that much right now. He pulled the rosary beads over his hand and glanced down at Sango and Kohaku.

Sango had poured the remains of the vile's antidote down Kohaku's throat once they'd realized Sesshomaru's little gift wasn't poison. And now they were waiting. He quickly looked back to Shippo and Rin, but the little girl was nowhere in sight and all he could see was Shippo's pink balloon. And he was swarmed by about fifty different demons, all of which were determinedly gnawing at him!

In that moment, he'd begun to run to the kitsune's rescue, frantically searching for Rin as he went. But, before he could go less than a yard, two unexpected events simultaneously occurred. Sesshomaru and Kagome came clear out of nowhere and began to, side-by-side, attack the demons that had swarmed Shippo. And, at the same time, Kohaku began to stir.

"Kohaku!" Sango exclaimed, looking down at her brother with gleeful surprise. Seeing as to how both Kagome and Sesshomaru were helping Shippo, Miroku guiltlessly turned his attention to Sango and Kohaku. He knelt down next to the two of them and helped Sango support her brother's head. The boy slowly opened his eyes, looking back and forth between the monk and the demon slayer. Miroku sighed in relief when he seen that Kohaku's eyes were clear and sparkling. He wasn't under Naraku's control. At least, _for now_ he wasn't.

"Big sister...?" Kohaku murmured, looking up at Sango dazedly. Sango smiled happily, her eyes brimming with tears, and brought her brother into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sango kept repeating. Miroku watched her with a sinking heart. He wanted to tell her to stop blaming herself, to stop apologizing for things that were out of her control, but he didn't. This was her moment. She was rejoicing in having her brother back and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt the reunion. So he just watched. "I'm so, so sorry..." Kohaku suddenly began to lift his arm up to reach behind him, the life in his eyes beginning to flicker to shadow. Miroku immediately started forward to stop him, his eyes growing wide, when Kohaku spoke.

"Run...sister," he ground out, his fingers wrapping around the handle of his weapon. Sango gasped and leaned back away from him, never taking her hands off of his shoulders. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him, but she still wouldn't let him go. "Run now!" shouted Kohaku, yanking the weapon from his back. Sango jumped, glancing nervously at her brother's newly-drawn weapon. But then she closed her eyes again and calmly brought him closer, holding him in a tighter hug than before. Miroku quickly got to his feet, ready to drag her away, when--

"No," she said softly, a tear forming at the corner of her eye as she grimaced. "I'd rather die with you! I...I can't stand not being able to help you anymore!" Miroku froze, his heart a block of ice. He'd always known so, but hearing her say the words with such passion was just too much. She DID blame herself...

Kohaku brought the weapon up over his head, his sister still clinging to him, and Miroku began to reach a hand out to pull Sango away from him. It was all in slow motion. Kohaku's weapon came down, down, down and Miroku's hand reached out, out, out...and as they neared the deciding moment, everything came back at full speed. Miroku yanked Sango into his arms and...and Kohaku's blade dug into his own back.

"KOHAKU! NO!" Kohaku's eyes regained their glitter and life as he raised his head and smiled at his sister.

"Sister," he began, his voice coarse, "it's okay. You saved me." Kohaku then gave his weapon a sharp jerk and something fell to the grassy earth with a drop of blood. It was a jewel shard; the shard that kept Kohaku alive. He fell to his knees and Sango ran to his side. "I've killed so many people and I let Naraku take over my body. All because I couldn't bear the memory of killing our family. I even tried...to kill you..." Kohaku raised his head with apparent effort. "I couldn't stand it anymore, so I asked Naraku to help me forget. And he did, but at the price of many other innocent lives. This...is my atonement...big sister." Kohaku fell limp in Sango's arms, his eyes slowly dulling and his eyelids covering them for the very last time. Sango began to choke on her tears as Miroku hesitantly walked over to her, his movements rigid and ungainly with shock.

"No," Sango whispered. "Kohaku? Kohaku, please wake up. Open...your eyes." She jarred him slightly, holding his limp form carefully in her arms. "Please? Don't...don't die!" she shouted, her eyes growing wide as she spoke the dreaded word. Her tears fell down her face, coming down in strong sheets, as she realized the truth. The horrible truth. "Please...no...!" Miroku fell to his knees behind her and wrapped his arms around both her AND her dead brother. "NOOOOO!" Miroku's heart shattered.


	10. Chapter 10: For The One I Love

**Chapter Ten:**_ For The One I Love_

_**Rin's Point-Of-View**_

Rin could hear Shippo-chan's pained, but muffled, yelps resounding throughout the strange, dark room. She turned slightly and began looking for the kitsune, eager to hold tight to someone she was familiar with in this lonely, frightening place. She didn't want to be all alone. Not ever again. She'd grown too used to always having someone there. Sesshoumaru-sama...or even Jaken. She forced herself to advert her thoughts to her situation. She felt the floor of the little prison and found herself mildly confused. She vaguely remembered feeling this texture before. But what was it...? She ran her other hand over the unusual surface, absently feeling the hand she now braced herself with as she did so. She gasped in sudden realization and horror.

The floor was made of _skin_!

"Now I...I really am...a tough guy..." Shippo's voice echoed in a rubbery undertone. Rin turned around with a start and, for once, noticed that the room she was in was spherical. 'Shippo-chan's shielding me with his body!' Rin's vision blurred as she met Shippo's wincing, glimmering eyes. That was all she could see in here. Shippo's tortured, agonized eyes. Eyes that were usually a child's. Free of suffering, full of innocence.

"No, Shippo-chan! Stop! Let me out!" she demanded in a voice that trembled with fearful desperation. "Right now! Before you leave me here without--" her voice failed, drowned with tears, "without anyone at all! Please! We can...we can run away! Sesshomaru-sama will--"

"ARGH!" Shippo wailed, panting breathlessly for a moment afterwards before speaking. One of his eyes was shut in pain, but the other was locked on Rin. Rin stared up at him anxiously, her hands squeezing tightly into fists as her lip quivered. A hot tear streaked her face, burning a trail of fire down her cheek that quickly turned to a road of ice as the air collided with it. "Sesshomaru left you with me, Rin. _Me_," a strong, brave voice told her. Rin just stared up into the kitsune's eyes, distraitly pondering how his voice had come to possess so much of Sesshomaru-sama's levelness. "He didn't tell you to stay with Miroku or Sango. But said for you to stay with _me_. I won't let anyone hurt you. And I won't run. I'll never run when I have someone to protect!" Rin gazed up at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Shippo..." she began.

"UNH! Da...damn..." Rin gave out a little hiccup at Shippo's swearing that might have been a gasp if she hadn't choked on her tears at that exact moment. "And..." Rin immediately looked up at him as he spoke, wiping the tears from her face. "And I definitely won't run when I have someone as special as you to protect. Someone... Mmrhn! Someone who always smiles so big and wide that people can see it from the moon!" Rin felt more tears spill down her face.

"Shippo...please..." She gazed up at him helplessly, her voice a mere whisper in the nothingness. "I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me!" She pressed her palms flat on the "ground" and silently shook with barely suppressed tears. 'Please don't do this, Shippo. Please don't die.'

"I won't run! Agh!" His eyes snapped closed, then quickly reopened. 'Don't leave me all alone!' she cried. "I won't lose! Yaaa!" Rin grabbed her sides, hugging herself tightly, and quivered with mute sobs. 'Stay with me!' she begged. "AND I WON'T LET YOU GO!"

"PLEASE DON'T GO, SHIPPO-KUN!" she screamed to the darkness that held her and Shippo captive, her face lifted to the sky. Shippo's eyes were wide with pain, but no terror could be found there. "Shippo! No! _Shippo_!" Shippo's eyes looked down at her quaking form peacefully, his eyes seemingly smiling at her. Then, as the green orbs tiredly rolled back into his head, his eyelids grimly hiding them away for the last time, the darkness vanished with a loud "pop."

Demons zipped and slithered through the sky above. Kagome-chan and Sesshomaru-sama fought them off from the ground. And Shippo lay motionless next to Rin, neither of them conscious of the world around them.

"Shippo... He's dead," Rin murmured hollowly to herself. "I killed him. It's...it's all my fault." And then Rin laid her head on Shippo's chest, where no steady rise or fall marked his breathing, and cried without ever blinking.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"So I did." Sesshomaru slowly walked a few steps, distantly waiting for Kagome to catch up to him so that he could sweep her up onto his back and rush to the battlegrounds. However, before any such thing could take place, a dark cloud spread over the mighty youkai and the land before him, casting the forest into night. He snapped his head up to glower at the sky.

"Demons! Millions of them! They're headed for our friends!" Kagome shouted from behind him, causing him to turn around and look at her. He didn't say anything at all, withholding all emotion from seeping through his features. This is just what he expected to happen, now that he'd begun to associate himself with humans! Humans were imperfect and, being such, were only capable of throwing _true_ perfection into chaos. Lord Sesshomaru had been a prime example of how a taiyoukai should behave and rule their lands. And then humans had corrupted that image. "Sesshomaru...? What are you waiting for?! Rin and the others are out there!" Kagome seemed to be growing more urgent and frightened as he hesitated to rush to her human "friends" rescue. He would not stand in the way of Naraku's demons if they were to carry out the work that Sesshomaru would eventually have to do himself. The humans were the cause...and they needed to be eliminated.

All the same, Sesshomaru's eyebrows furrowed a millimeter at Kagome's mentioning of Rin. His hands twitched as he held back his inuyoukai rage. He felt as though his innards were being ripped and torn apart by some invisible, inner monster. He had to control himself--or else he would become a mindless, bloodthirsty demon as his brother always had. He hunched over, his claws digging into his sides as his eyes grew wide. 'Rin is nothing but another human! A parasite! The girl has no place among demons!' His claws raked through his sides, spreading pain throughout his entire body. "Sesshomaru," Kagome's voice crooned in wary understanding. His eyes darted to hers and held them fastly. He'd meant it as a warning, but she stepped forward regardless. She smiled knowingly at him, her eyes submitted, and spoke as though she might break something if she raised her voice any higher. She took another step towards him, her legs trembling in fear at his sudden loss of control, and held her hand out towards him a little. She looked like she was edging towards a scared and dangerous animal. How could he, the mighty taiyoukai of the Western Lands, lose himself like this?! 'It was the humans! The humans have weakened me beyond redemption!'

"Flee or face the consequences, wench," he ground out gruffly. He bore into her chocolate hues from beneath his dark eyebrows, the bones of his face cracking and shifting as a snout emerged. He began to growl, containing a roar with maximum effort. "Filthy humans... You filthy humans have sapped me of my full-blood!" He flung himself upright and, jerking his claws free of his sides, slung streams of dark blood over the tree trunks and summer grass. He spread his arms wide, threw his chest out, and whipped his head back like a madman. And he was. He was a madman with no control over his actions. "I WILL NOT BE REDUCED TO THIS!" he commanded the gods.

Then, quite suddenly, he felt a pair of slender arms wrap around his body, resting caring hands on his shoulder blades.

He froze.

A moment later, he was scowling down at the top of a familiar dark head. Kagome pressed her face up against his bare chest, her expression determined and frightened.

"Humans aren't the problem. It's love. You love Rin." Sesshomaru started in surprise, taken aback, before glowering angrily and raising a taloned hand above him. "You're scared for her...and you hate yourself for it."

"This Lord Sesshomaru fears nothing!" He brought the taloned hand down and grazed the top of Kagome's head with his claws, tossing her aside. She slammed into a tree with many ominous cracks and thudded at its base in a mangled heap. She didn't move again. He felt the anger and disgust that had risen up inside of him like a tsunami begin to recede, carefully ebbing away from the destructive transformation it would have eventually brought about. At last, he had returned to his usual self.

He fell to the ground on one knee, his silvery wisps veiling his face and right shoulder, exhausted with the energy it had taken to hold back the transformation. "I feel nothing for humans. Nor demons." He raised his head and looked at the tree where Kagome lay lifeless. He glowered irately. "Nothing at all..." His eyebrows knit themselves together and he felt something tug at where he supposed his heart would be. He clenched his fists with all his might. "NOTHING, I SAY!" he bellowed into the forest, his voice louder than his earlier roar could ever have been. No one was listening, he knew. No one at all. But that wouldn't matter to the taiyoukai. Because he spoke to convince himself, not others.

The wind toyed with his long, silvery strands as he stood, calmly watching as the wind attempted to rouse the young human woman. After several moments of being unsuccessful in its work, the wind finally retreated and settled itself.

"Rise, human. You are not injured," he spoke to her limp form, refusing to move towards her. She did nothing. He looked upon her skeptically, still yet believing his own words were true. He tended to think that way, being that every occasion he'd said such a thing, it was so. Which was why he was growing so impatient that she continued to feign unconsciousness. "Do not test me, human. Rise, lest I leave you for the demons to sort out." He paused, waiting in utter silence. There was nothing. No sound, no movement...no Kagome? The silence squealed in his ears. The dead silence. Suddenly anxious, he made his way to her in three strong strides and knelt down. It was as he had presumed.

She wasn't breathing.

"Human girl! Awake!" Immediately, he expected her to leap up at him, as she had in the castle, and scold him for not calling her by name. For waking her up when she was so blissfully resting. He scowled again, except this time his full fury was let out into his face. Why wouldn't she rise?! She'd been dealt worse blows when his idiot brother had served as her protector! "Awake!" He reached down and clutched her shoulders in his tight grip. Something was yanking at his heart again...and something swelled up inside of him. Something dreadful. Where had he felt this treacherous feeling before? When was it...? So many years before, when he'd become stone. He should hold it back, he knew. He was shamed the last he'd allowed it free reign. And it had made him a fool. 'A fool...as InuTaisho once allowed himself to become.' But he knew, today, this moment...he had to risk himself. "Kagome," he said quietly, releasing his grip somewhat. "For you, I'll repeat my father's mistake." He brushed the back of his right hand over her left cheek, unable to escape the mocking laughter of his and Kagome's dried blood that clung to his talons, and felt his eyes begin to burn for the second time in his life. It was like acid, searing his heart and face with every wave that came forth. And for a moment, he believed he welcomed this feeling. These tears he'd known as weakness so long ago.

A single teardrop, the last teardrop, welled up from beneath an eyelid and slipped over the rim. It fell...and it fell...like Sesshomaru in this endless world of nothing...and then it fell no more. It no longer fell only for the reason that Kagome's gentle face had caught it. It was saved from its long and perilous drop by her innocent face. Because she carried his tears for him, he had found himself again. He fell no more.

He stood up then, that expressionless Lord of the Western Lands, and he gazed upon the human girl he could not deny. Lord Sesshomaru, first-born son of InuTaisho, was helpless to every extent.

And he didn't mind at all.

_**Kikyo's Point-Of-View**_

"Kikyo! Kikyo, don't give up on me!" InuYasha's garbled voice echoed around her cottony head, fading like a dying dream as it ricocheted off the sides of her skull. Had she really heard him call out for her...? It had been such a faint murmur, that voice that had sounded so much like InuYasha's. She uttered not a single word, fearing she was mistaken, and refused to dignify her mind's cruel tricks on her by opening her eyes. She stayed that way for a little while before finally giving in to her hopes.

"InuYasha...?" Kikyo barely allowed herself to say that much. She couldn't humiliate herself, calling out for a man (even one she'd devoted her love to), when he might not even be near enough to hear her. It made her feel ridiculous. Looking at the possibility that InuYasha might not be there after all, she'd be screaming like a lunatic, crying out for an invisible savior to pull her free of danger. Yes. That would be truly mortifying. She'd be made a fool of...even if no one else were around to see her stupidity. She was a miko, no matter if she retained her soul or not, and she would not settle for herself acting any less than the role implied.

"Kikyo! You'd better start answering, woman! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer! You hear me?! Wind Scar! _Answer_!" Her eyes slowly opened, feeling Naraku's tentacles crushing into her body as her nerves reanimated themselves. She looked down at her body, terrified, and caught her lower leg crumbling away in places. It was happening. She had known she wouldn't be able to sustain this makeshift body of hers forever...but why did it have to happen _now_, when things were just beginning to go right after half a century of misunderstanding and hate? The tentacles squeezed her again and the pain ruthlessly washed over her.

"InuYasha!" she shouted, fighting the urge to pass out. The unbearable pain. The unbearable, white pain. For one horrible moment that spanned an eternity, all she knew was that flash of darkness and flash of blinding white as the pain streaked through her clay limbs.

"KIKYO! I HEAR YOU! Yell again! Wind Scar! One more time! _Please_!" InuYasha frantically pleaded, his voice surrounding her in the foul place. It somehow took some of the fear away. Magically, his genuine concern for her eased the hurt from her conscious mind, leaving only hope in its wake. She opened her mouth to cry out again, encouraged to leave her pride behind, but her voice wouldn't operate at her will anymore. She couldn't speak at all! The pain...the mind-numbing pain. She could hardly think straight! She knew only that she wanted the pain to stop. Her body hurt so much. She just wanted to be free of it again. Free of this suffering. This pain. Even if it meant leaving this body behind. "KIKYO! Don't give up on me! Please! I'm coming to save you! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" Her side began to disintegrate into dust, taking away the pain that had been there as it went. She sighed in relief. "Kikyo! Don't you _dare_ do this again, you stupid wench!" Kikyo smiled through the pain at the insult. Wasn't that what he'd always called her when they'd first met? The priestess began to laugh softly, coughing every now and again, before opening her mouth wide in an attempt to send her reply.

"Half-man!" she rasped, still laughing as she remembered their first days together. "I'm here, you stupid half-man!" she shouted, her voice regaining its strength as it finally broke through the crippling pain. She was sure that the teasing insult had reached InuYasha's sensitive puppy ears.

"Kikyo! Kikyo, keep talking! I'll follow your voice!" came InuYasha's confident reply. Kikyo felt a particularly painful stab of pain in her right shoulder, which soon launched a new wave of paralyzing ache that sprawled over the rest of her body. She cried out as she began quaking in agony.

"InuYasha!" The shoulder that had caused the tremor of torture to snake through her began falling away in places. She stared at it thankfully, watching herself disappear into oblivion as calmly as if she were stargazing. The pain was finally passing out of her...

...finally.

'I want to see him...one more time. Just once.' She smiled to herself, ignoring her inner priestess' lecture that she was acting ignorantly, and closed her eyes. The next moment, she had let out the shrillest, most blood-curdling scream she could muster. As soon as the first note was out, she could hear InuYasha cursing and struggling to reach her. She wasn't meaning to startle him. It had just occurred to her that if he didn't reach her soon, they'd never be able to say their farewells to one another. Her shout would give him something constant to follow her by. She let the cry go on until her lungs felt as though they'd burst from oxygen-deprivation. Cutting the shriek off cleanly and abruptly, she began taking in great gulps of air that only added to her suffering. When she was back to the steady shocks and darts of pain she'd come to consider natural, she consciously visited each part of her body and willed it to release the tension it held. Lying just where she'd always been, she became as calm and still as ever. It didn't hurt so much if she stayed relaxed. InuYasha would find her much easier now, having had something to follow for so long.

Kikyo was a miko at one time...but not today. She realized that now. She understood the truth. She was undead, returned from Hell to kill the one she now loves. Her purpose among the living had vanished in the instant she realized her rekindled love for InuYasha, and so nothing remained but her wishes. And her only wish was to see InuYasha. Why did it matter whether she upheld the manners and demeanors of a priestess or not? 'I left that life long ago. To see InuYasha one last time, I would renounce all that I once was.'

"KIKYO! KIKYO! Answer me! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer! Wind Scar! Are you hurt?! Answer me!" She heard him clawing away at Naraku's tentacles nearby, but another wave of pain was coursing through her again as Naraku pinched her body between the ground and his masses of tentacle. Her jaw was so tightly clenched that she couldn't open it to form any words...so she just whimpered as loudly as she could. Though her eyes were squeezed tight in her misery and all she could feel of herself was the unbelievable pain, she knew that her body must have been bucking in agony. Her nerves were writhing with the incredible torture that was being inflicted upon them. And then, all of a sudden, she felt the pain entirely subside from her back. That must mean that it, too, had been reduced to clay dust.

"InuYasha! You must hurry!" she managed to call out. She only wished to see him one last time before her final death. Hopefully, her final death. The pain...the pain...the horrible, skull-splitting pain...

"KIKYO! IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!" She heard flesh rip near her right side and smiled slightly. He was here. Oh, thank god--the merciful, blessed god--InuYasha had made it! Had made it before...before... She gasped. How could she have forgotten InuYasha? He would be all alone without her by his side! For the first time since she realized it was her time, Kikyo became anxious about dying. 'Kagome...' she remembered, 'he'll have Kagome.' _I don't love her, Kikyo. I love you...and only you._ Kikyo winced. He'd been lying. She hoped that he'd been lying. But he wasn't, and she knew it very well. 'His friends. The demon slayer and the monk, then. He'll still have them.' She knew they weren't able to be with him as she could be, but at least he would still have _someone_ after she deserted him in this world. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer! Iron Reaver Soul--KIKYO!" His face appeared through a gouge in the wall of Naraku's flesh and he peered in at her, breathing hard and looking worried. But not nearly as worried as he'd become once he realized that her body was self-destructing. "Oh shit! Kikyo!" He tore away more of Naraku's skin and was soon at her side, trying not to touch her for fear of doing more damage than had already been done. "Kikyo..." He gazed down at her with an expression like someone had just lopped his right arm off. Then he was suddenly angry, like he always was when he didn't know how to deal with something. "Damn it! Damn it all to Hell! I knew you'd... You just _had_ to do this again, didn't you?! I just knew it! I just knew that it wouldn't last long!" Kikyo offered him a small smile in gratitude of his anguish.

"There's nothing wrong with this, InuYasha." He looked at her suddenly, his face full of incredulity.

"What the Hell?! That's gotta be Naraku's miasma talking!" He looked down at her imperiously, but Kikyo spotted the fear. Kikyo tried to comfort him with another smile, but he looked away from her defiantly, crossing his arms. "Well, I think there's a whole Hell of a _lot_ wrong with this! Why should you have to die now that everything's back to normal again? After all the shit we've gone through, this is how it has to end?! KEH!" InuYasha's face wore an intense glower that Kikyo judged as the worst she'd ever seen over his features. He was shaking all over. But Kikyo knew it wasn't rage that shook him so violently. He tried to keep it up for a little while longer, but in the end it was just too much. His closed eyes popped open, his eyebrows began twitching with the effort it was taking to hold his angry expression, and before long he'd roughly untangled his crossed arms and brought his claws to rip at his scalp. "NARAKU, YOU BASTARD!"

"It's unfair," Kikyo crooned, causing InuYasha to cease his assault on his scalp and look back at her again. "I know that. But it's okay with me, because I want this pain to stop. I…I need it to stop, InuYasha. So it's okay… I want to go back to the world of the dead, where I can find peace again--"

"Stupid bitch!" InuYasha suddenly roared, making Kikyo jump. He looked down at her with more fury than she'd seen him direct towards her for a while. "You can't just give up like that! What if I gave up? I could've, you know--!" He considered her for a moment, taking in her reaction. She carefully eased the shocked expression from her face and settled herself. He continued after another moment's silence. "I could've given up a long time ago. When I was just a kid. But then what? I'd never have met you...and then you'd never have left the quiet confines of your temple. Or do you regret that, too?" Kikyo said nothing. She knew what he meant. He was asking if she regretted meeting him all those years ago. Even though it brought about her early death, she'd never before wished she'd never met InuYasha. Even while she'd "hated" him, she'd always secretly looked back at the memories with a smile. She knew she didn't need to answer. InuYasha already knew he was spouting off nonsense. "If you give up now, Kikyo--if you allow yourself to end like this--then I'm coming with you." Kikyo felt something pierce her heart so intensely, it could have been a fisher's line. She looked up into InuYasha's eyes desperately. She wanted him to live, not die alongside her! "Then all this shit with Naraku and demons and fighting. It will all just stop. And we'll just be together forever without any more worries or pain." His eyes dreamily drifted away from hers as he spoke, sounding alarms for Kikyo. If she didn't do something soon, he would be too enamored with everlasting peace to be talked out of it.

"InuYasha, please," she began, not sure what she should say. "I _can't_ stay. My body isn't able to tether me to this world any longer. It's not my choice anymore! You must live...please, InuYasha! Please just live!" He looked down at her for a moment, and then smiled. A true smile. He brought his hand to her cheek and brushed it against her lightly, so very lightly.

"You're mine." He lowered himself to lie next to her in the tomb of tentacles, whispering to her softly of the other world. Kikyo only smiled sadly, unable to deny that she was pleased at his unending love and devotion to her. And disturbed that she had fulfilled her purpose for returning from Hell after all.


	11. Chapter 11: Sesshomaru's Mistake

**Chapter Eleven:**_ Sesshomaru's Mistake_

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

He stared down at Kagome's palid corpse, his eyes narrowing in concentration as he considered what he was preparing to do, and clenched a fist over the hilt of Tenseiga. He owed her this much for murdering her when she'd trusted him to protect her. As his father's son, as a demon lord, he knew that he must honor his word to her. As her guardian, he knew that he must do all that he could to preserve her life. But why had he shown tears for her, if she was merely his ward? When Rin had been attacked by wolves that day in the forest, when she had perished, Sesshomaru had not shown any emotion at all. So why was it any different with Kagome? Why weep over _this_ human and not another? Sesshomaru's features became sharper as he waded through his thoughts and feelings. He'd known that he could bring Rin back, so perhaps he had wept for Kagome because he hadn't thought of Tenseiga? His countenance darkened. He'd known full well that he could revive Kagome, yet he still shed his tears for her. He clutched the hilt of his sword tighter in his palm as a memory swept over him...

_Sesshomaru's Last Tears..._

"Sesshomaru," whispered the beautiful woman. She was lying motionless on a bed, her face thin and pale, as she held the hand of a small inuyoukai boy. The boy squeezed her hand, his features growing more tormented at her faint voice, but refused to shed a tear in her presence. She would be saddened at having to leave him if he gave into these feelings and, in her last moments, he was determined to show her only a face that she could take relief in. There would be no tears. Not now.

"Yes, Mother. I'm here," he answered, willing his voice to sound steady and calming. He wished that his father would speak to her. His voice held such a riveting measure of levelness, that it reassured all who stood by him. It was so much stronger than his own boyish voice. His mother closed her eyes as her head fell back to the side slightly, her breathing becoming more shallow. Sesshomaru's brow lowered and his expression hardened as he struggled to withhold the grief from his features. He searched desperately for the words to comfort his dying mother. He turned his head to glance over his shoulder at his father, who sat back a ways from the bed, his face cast in shadow. Why wouldn't he _say_ anything to her?!

His mother gasped, her grip tightening on Sesshomaru's hand. The small boy whipped about to gaze down at her pained features, uncertain of what he should do. What _could_ he do, in these last moments that she had left in this world? He felt his father come to stand beside him and looked up, surprised. InuTaisho did not spare his son a glance, but allowed his eyes to fall only on his mate, his face a sculpture of stone. Sesshomaru followed his father's example and turned to stare at his mother, who had relaxed against the bed and was gazing back at Sesshomaru's father.

"InuTaisho..." The young inuyoukai had to force himself to keep his eyes on his mother's face as she spoke, though he wanted to look up and see his father's reaction. Precious moments slipped by, worrying the dying inuyoukai's son. If his father didn't speak soon, his chance would be gone forever.

"I've always loved you," he said shortly after an unbearable stretch of silence, his voice rumbling like the thunder before a storm. And then he just turned away, returning to his chair; to the place where his face was hidden from view. Sesshomaru's eyes had grown wide with shock at his father's words. Was that all he had to say to her in her last moments?! How could four words be enough to carry her to peace as she passed on to the Next World? He snapped his eyes back to his mother, reaching for the words his father had failed to speak, and found himself surprised yet again.

His mother was smiling. Her eyes were half-shut, sparkling with sudden life, and she was smiling. 'It was enough for my father to tell her that he loved her...?' Sesshomaru turned back to his mother, unsure of what was left to say, and was chilled to the bone.

She had already passed, the smile still fresh on her face.

Her hand fell from his, landing on the bed with a soft "pat," as a tear streaked his face. She was gone. Sesshomaru reached up and slung the back of his hand across his cheek, wiping away the tear and cutting himself in the process. He turned to face his father, hoping for some sort of direction. What was he to do now, he wanted to ask.

And then he froze.

InuTaisho, remaining on his chair in the corner, his face still partially hidden with shadow, had two shimmering streams running down his face. He made no sound. He showed no expression. But the tears were undeniably there. Young Sesshomaru took a dazed step back, his legs growing suddenly weak, and plopped down on the bed beside his mother's corpse. So...nothing was left to do but...

Sesshomaru hung his head and, as his father had, allowed himself to grieve.

_Present Day_

Sesshomaru's grip tightened all the more around the hilt of Tenseiga. The tears he had shown at that moment were meaningless, foolish expressions. He had nothing to grieve over, for he had no love for his mother. Love. A single word that was, in itself, a lie. And his mother, as he had learnt only a few months ago, had not died for the last time that day. She had been brought back from the Next World by a powerful demon, which she had slain the instant she laid eyes upon it. She had not sought him upon her rebirth, however, and so Sesshomaru proudly refused to meet with her. So, regardless of this knowledge, he had still not seen his mother since her "death" all those decades ago.

His eyes fell back into focus, returning from his memory, and his attention returned to Kagome's lifeless body as he awaited the pallbearers imps to appear. How had he allowed himself to fall under that illusion? He would not forgive himself for repeating InuTaisho's ultimate mistake. Not when he had for so long forsworn to do so...

_The Illusion..._

Many years had come and gone since Sesshomaru's mother had passed to the Next World, but they felt very short to the adult Sesshomaru. He still remembered her as clearly as if it had been only a few years, and not a few decades, since her death. The only wear that time had made on her memory was that it did not bring him torment to remember her any longer. Thoughts of her entailed less grief than before. He had been thinking of her today, actually, which was why...

Sesshomaru caught his father's scent, blended with the saltwater tang of humans, and started towards it. He had news to deliver to him about a possible trespasser on the Western Lands that InuTaisho ruled over. He supposed that he must be passing a human village, by the corruption of his scent. He flew through the forest, stopping within a few yards of the scent, and found his father. His eyes narrowed as he realized what he was seeing.

His father hadn't noticed him yet, and was walking next to a human woman. They appeared to be taking a pleasure stroll through the forest together. But that surely couldn't be right. _Surely_ not! But, as Sesshomaru watched on, InuTaisho bent his face down to the human woman's...

...and kissed her.

"Izayoi," InuTaisho called her when he broke the kiss. The human woman, "Izayoi," looked back at Sesshomaru's father with a determining expression. 'My father...and a human woman?' thought Sesshomaru, stunned at this unexpected discovery.

"InuTaisho. Please," the woman began, "answer my question; I must know. D-do you love me?" InuTaisho looked down at her, his eyes narrowing in time with his spying son's.

"I do," came his father's grave response, spoken in the quiet, thunder-like voice he'd used with Sesshomaru's mother on the day of her death. That same voice, confessing the same "love," with the very same expressionless features.

That day, Sesshomaru had renounced his tears and took immense shame in those that he had shed on behalf of his mother. How could his father forget the mate that he had told he always loved? Was love such a fleeting emotion, so small a thing, that it could easily be tossed aside at the first sight of another woman? Love was a lie. A mere illusion, created to ensure procreation between those that fell under its spell. Sesshomaru swore to himself, the moment InuTaisho said those words, that he would not be fooled by the same illusion that his father had. That day, he voided his heart of all sensation.

And for the first fifty or so years, his resolve had held up exceptionally well.

Until those two humans.

'And because of Izayoi, InuYasha's mother, InuTaisho perished before I could match my strength against his. InuTaisho: the only opponent that had been worth defeating,' concluded Sesshomaru bitterly. He felt a familiar hate for his brother begin to burn through his chest as he remembered why he despised InuYasha so. Humans. They truly did throw perfection into chaos.

The imps suddenly appeared at Kagome's side, jolting Sesshomaru from his ill-meaning thoughts, and he quickly tore Tenseiga from its sheathe. He brought the sword above his head and swung it at the pallbearers, disintegrating their grotesque figures in a single swing. He looked down upon Kagome's form, awaiting her return, and was reminded of his earlier conflict; the question that had spawned all of these long-buried memories. Why had Kagome's death unlocked the tears he had sworn to hide for the rest of his existence? As he watched, the human stirred. 'My sense simply abandoned me in the wake of my exhaustion,' he reasoned. He had been exhausted from struggling against his near-transformation, and when he had realized that he had actually killed Kagome, his ward, he was simply too weak to fight off the emotion. That was all there was to it. He had not, as he had feared, repeated his father's mistake. He was not claiming to "love" anybody. Thankfully, Kagome came back to consciousness before he could begin to wonder why he had felt any emotion towards her death to begin with.

"Ses...Sesshomaru?" she started, looking up at him as she pushed herself up on an elbow. She appeared to be slightly disoriented. "Are you okay now? Your transformation--"

"Shut up." He didn't want her to bring that up. His weakness at that moment. His sudden loss of control. Her murder. He looked down at her with contempt. "We are late for the battle." He snatched the speechless Kagome from the base of the tree where he'd slung her, where he'd killed her, and sped off towards the battlegrounds.

_**Naraku's Point-Of-View**_

"Then all this shit with Naraku and demons and fighting. It will all just stop. And we'll just be together forever without any more worries or pain."

"InuYasha, please, I _can't_ stay. My body isn't able to tether me to this world any longer. It's not my choice anymore! You must live...please, InuYasha! Please just live!"

A pause, and then...

"You're mine."

Naraku growled, his eyes narrowing, as he spied on the scene taking place beneath his body. InuYasha intended to die _with_ Kikyo, then? Why was it that no matter how many times he broke those two fools apart, they returned to one another's sides?! Death, betrayal, and now, even when Kikyo held only a portion of her soul, even when she half _hated_ InuYasha, they were both prepared to die alongside the other? This was infuriating! What must he do to show them how petty their feelings truly were? What must he do to separate them forever?

"Kikyo is mine to do with as I wish," Naraku informed the half-human. He smiled nastily as InuYasha sat bolt upright, instantly searching for Naraku's hiding place. "I have deduced that the priestess will return to Hell. Alone." Naraku manipulated his tentacles and wrapped them around InuYasha.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" the hanyou bellowed, raking his claws across the masses of tentacles that binded him. Naraku only smiled wider and sent more tentacles to entwine the half-demon. "Iron Reaver Soul Steal--! Damn!" The tentacles pinned his arms to his sides, completely immobilizing InuYasha. "DAMN YOU, NARAKU!" Naraku grinned and projected his face before the couple.

_**InuYasha's Point-Of-View**_

"DAMN YOU, NARAKU!" spat InuYasha, tightly wound in Naraku's slimy tentacles. In a moment, Naraku's face had appeared in the darkness above Kikyo. The miko had already fallen unconscious, at least a fourth of her body missing. InuYasha's expression was contemplative as he stared at Kikyo, but soon became rageful as he looked back at Naraku. "You aren't going to get away _this_ time, bastard!" Naraku grinned again and InuYasha's scowl deepened.

"I will not pursue you any longer, InuYasha. I believe that you'll be much more miserable _alive_." InuYasha's eyes widened, his anger receding, as he realized what Naraku was saying. He was going to make him suffer by sending Kikyo back to Hell. By allowing InuYasha to live the rest of his life in torment at her memory! InuYasha renewed his struggle to free himself from Naraku's tentacles.

"Bastard! Let me go and _fight_!" Naraku's wicked laughter echoed around the foul cavern as the tentacles drew InuYasha away from Kikyo. "Damn it! You coward!" The tentacles took him from the room, shutting out his view of Naraku's apparition and Kikyo's motionless form. It drew him back through the thick masses of tentacles, rolling him towards the outside. 'No...! Take me back in, damn it...' he thought, eyes wide. The tentacles spat him out suddenly, leaving him sprawled out on the cool grass. He looked up and saw that he was at the base of Naraku's pulsating mound of purple and black flesh. The sun was painful to his eyes after being inside the dark tomb for so long. The tomb that he was _supposed_ to share with-- "KIKYO!"

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

Kagome bounced on Sesshomaru's back as he landed from an especially high leap. He was tearing through the forest with more speed than Kagome had ever believed him capable of. She clutched her hands around the spikes on his armor, knowing that it wouldn't be a pleasant experience if she fell off of his back at such high speeds. 'My mom would kill me if I ever drove this fast...' thought Kagome absently.

_Are you okay? Your transformation--_

_Shut up._

She winced, cringing on Sesshomaru's back as the words rang through her head. Had she really made him that angry? That time when he'd been on the verge of losing his control... That moment when she'd pressed herself against his bare chest, bravely embracing him even as she shook with terror at what he was becoming...

_Humans aren't the problem. It's love. You love Rin. You're scared for her...and you hate yourself for it._

She was only trying to offer her support. Geez! She hadn't meant to _insult_ him...

_This Lord Sesshomaru fears nothing!_

She gasped.

"HEY! You _hit_ me, didn't you?!" she shouted at the back of Sesshomaru's perfect hair. She felt him stumble slightly and maybe slow down a little.

"..."

"Uh-_huh_, that's what I thought! Hmph! I was only trying to help and _you_ lost your temper with me! That really hurt, ya know!" Sesshomaru began to gain speed, obviously intending to get to the battlegrounds before she started on his case. Well, Kagome Higurashi wasn't about to let up!

But just as she was about to delve deeper into her lecture, Sesshomaru leapt back into the air, the mokomoko gracefully trailing behind them like a furry ribbon. She was so in awe at the sensation of flying weightlessly through the treetops that she lost the ability to speak for the time being.

And then they were descending.

They landed hard on the ground, jarring Kagome to the point of almost releasing her death-grip on Sesshomaru's armor, and the taiyoukai sped off again. She opened her mouth, about to let Sesshomaru know that she hadn't forgotten that she wanted to bite his head off, and stopped. Where was the pain? She looked down at herself, hesitantly touching her abdomen where her wounds had begun to heal.

The gashes had vanished.

"You didn't just hit me...did you?" she asked, reaching back up to regain her hand-hold on Sesshomaru's shoulder. Her voice wasn't as strong as she had hoped it would be.

"..."

"You killed me?"

"..."

"And so, then--with Tenseiga--"

"Shut up." Kagome scowled.

"_You_ shut up! You just _killed_ me! Excuse me, but I'm a _little_ upset!" Kagome was positively incensed. She had been _dead_. A corpse. And _he_ had been the murderer! 'I've been kidnapped, attacked, fought over, kidnapped, forcibly engaged, wounded, _kidnapped_, temporarily robbed of my soul and now murdered?! Why do I stay here, again...?' Kagome growled, frustrated.

And he had the nerve to tell _her_ to "shut up?!"

"..."

"Well, say _something_!" she demanded, glaring at the back of his head with as much venom as she could muster.

"What would you recommend?"

"Oh, I don't know..." she began sarcastically, "How about "_SORRY_?!"

"Sorry."

"Not good enough!" she screamed, absolutely fuming at this point. "How can you think "sorry" even covers it?! I DIED!"

"I was merely following your suggestion."

"What, by killing me?!"

"By apologizing."

"GAH!" She smacked him upside the head. "BAKA-SAMA!"

He halted.

Kagome gulped.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"We're here," he told Kagome, who had just walloped him over the head, calling him "Lord Idiot." He would have killed anyone else who showed him such disrespect, but he tried not to make a habit out of killing the same person twice in a day. Besides, her anger was justified. He had accepted her as his ward, and she had perished under his guardianship. His pride allowed him to ignore her tantrum, albeit grudgingly, for this reason alone.

Kagome hadn't moved since they had arrived, so Sesshomaru slid her from his back himself. He looked over his shoulder at her, his expression unreadable, and saw that she was looking at him with something of surprise. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully at her, unsure of why he refused to break the gaze, when she suddenly looked away with a gasp.

"That's Shippo over there!" she shouted, her features growing alarmed. Sesshomaru followed her eye and saw an enormous ball of snake demons coiled around each other, floating very low to the ground. Only, there was something else beneath them. Something familiarly pink.

Kagome unexpectedly legged it to the battlefield, causing Sesshomaru to follow after her. Effortlessly passing her up, he gathered her under his arm, dropping her to her feet when they stood before the enemy. She immediately began plucking the demons off with her sacred arrows, unfazed by Sesshomaru's gesture. The taiyoukai leapt into the air and used his Poison Flower Claw to attack the snakes that swarmed the blimp-like Shippo, using restraint so as not to injure the kitsune demon. Soon, the other snake demons fled the scene, realizing that the battle was hopelessly one-sided.

"PLEASE DON'T GO, SHIPPO-KUN!" begged Rin from within the balloon. 'Shippo's dead.'

"NOOOOO!" came Sango's blood-curdling scream from somewhere off to his right. 'Kohaku, too.'

"KIKYO!" roared InuYasha from far behind. 'As well as Kikyo.'

"Shippo! No! _Shippo_!" was Rin's hollow voice, again from inside the blimp.

Sesshomaru had turned full-circle, following each scream in sequence, before focusing back on Shippo as he vanished with a loud "pop." Sesshomaru caught sight of two small figures lying on the ground just below where the Shippo Blimp had once hovered. He took a step forward, intending to scan Rin for injuries, when,

"Shippo... He's dead. I killed him. It's...it's all my fault." Sesshomaru's eyes widened somewhat at Rin's Kanna-like monotone as she spoke. Her fault...? The tears streaked the young girl's face, her eyes blank and unblinking, as she laid her head on Shippo's motionless chest.

"Shippo!" shouted Kagome as she rushed over to kneel next to Shippo's lifeless form. Death seemed to take enjoyment in stalking this heroic group. Kikyo, Shippo, Kohaku, and even Kagome had died today. He slowly walked over to the three of them, bending down to lift Rin to her feet. But she began to fall back to the ground the instant he released her, apparently unable to stand. Sesshomaru caught her, looking down at her with concern. "She's--" Kagome choked, clutching Shippo in her arms, "--traumatized, Sesshomaru. She's under mental shock at Shippo's...Shippo's..." The oddly-dressed miko burst into tears, her entire body quavering with sobs.

Again, Sesshomaru felt that loathesome feeling from when Kagome had thought Kanna's mirror had claimed his life. That despicable emotion that had torn at his heart back at the castle as she cried for him. His fist clenched as he began to tremble. 'Why...? Why am I trembling at this girl's tears?!' He looked away from her, staring off at Miroku, who seemed to be in the same predicament as he was at the moment. Minus the hugging, of course.

"Rin will be okay with time. She just has to find a way to cope with it." Sesshomaru turned his attention back to Kagome as she spoke, flicking his eyes to Rin's limp form. She was staring off into pure nothingness, her eyes wide, but unseeing. He did not doubt Kagome's words, for he knew that she would not claim to know what was the matter with Rin and risk the young human's life. He knew he could trust the priestess when it came to Rin's health.

"Very well. Shall we save the lives of those who remain?" he suggested, intending to remind her of the friends that she still had left. She clutched tighter to Shippo's corpse, her face shadowed by her bangs.

"Please use Tenseiga again," she said, her voice low. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed in thought as he watched her face, wet with the downpour of tears, and held his silence. He looked off into the distance, towards the demon slayer and monk, as he answered.

"Impossible." He heard an abrupt rustle of clothing as she turned to look at him, undoubtedly furious at his refusal. There was a moment where nothing was said and all that Sesshomaru did was watch the monk comfort the grief-crazed human woman. And then Kagome exploded with rage.

"Why not?! You saved _me_, a human! A human that you killed with your own hands! Isn't Shippo above me on that scale?! Even...even just a _little_?" Kagome's voice broke, tears beginning to overtake her again, when he suddenly felt her leap at him. He turned, surprised, and watched in sheer incredulity as she grabbed the hilt of Tenseiga. He grabbed her wrist, looking down at her with a decidedly testy expression. She looked back at him with the defiance of ten InuYashas as she demanded, "How am I more worthy of resurrection than a fellow demon?!"

His grip loosened at this question and Kagome took full advantage, wrenching the sword from its sheathe before he could realize what had happened. He instantly started forward to retrieve the weapon, but at that exact moment, Kagome's knees buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground. Her knuckles were bone-white as she held Tenseiga. She tried to speak, but the "words" ended up as various crackles and moans. Her eyes were so wide, that it looked as if their lids had been forced back against their sockets. 'Konkatsu!' Sesshomaru recognized. Sesshomaru knelt down beside her and pried her fingers from the hilt of the sword, taking it away from her with an indifferent front. As he sheathed it, Kagome came back to herself a little.

"You nearly split your soul in two," he explained before she had the chance to ask. She fell against him, clutching his haori for dear life. He looked down at the crown of her head, but quickly adverted his eyes again. She deserved what she had gotten. She began to quiver, still shaken from the experience of shredding her soul, and Sesshomaru found his resolve wavering. His eyes narrowed as he looked back at her, taking his arm around her protectively. "A human cannot wield Tenseiga's power without splitting their soul. Every time they draw on that sword's power, they must bear the agony of tearing their soul in half. The technique is called Konkatsu--Soul Split. The pain will subside; your soul will heal." She nodded uselessly, seemingly unable to do anything more.

Sesshomaru looked back at Rin and Shippo, checking that the human girl was still there. She hadn't moved an inch from where he'd left her. He scowled slightly and turned his attention to Shippo's corpse, which had a purple tinge around its lips. Sesshomaru stood, lying Kagome back against the grass. "I'll return shortly." And then he started towards Sango and Miroku.

The two humans looked up at him apprehensively as he approached, but said nothing. When he finally arrived before them he saw that Kohaku had, as he'd supposed, perished. And by his own devices, if the jewel shard lying on the ground next to his body was to account for anything. Sesshomaru turned his attention to the humans and extended his hand.

"My antidote," he instructed. Sango's eyes welled with tears and the monk glowered at him, clearly believing that Sesshomaru had no tact at all. But that was fine. Just so long as he got his antidote back. The demon slayer took the antidote and slung it at him, burying her face in Miroku's chest as she began to sob again. Sesshomaru caught the vile with ease and left them to themselves.

Returning to Kagome and the young ones, he was relieved to see that Kagome had recovered and was standing, waiting for him to reach her. Questions seemed to be hanging from her lips, he observed as he grew closer. He closed the distance with a dash that was faster than the eye could comprehend, surely leaving an image of himself behind, and knelt at Shippo's corpse in the selfsame instant. Kagome was still looking at where he'd been standing a few moments ago.

"Over here," he said playfully, looking over his shoulder at her. She turned with a start, wondering how he'd gotten past her. In a moment, however, she was kneeling next to him and watching him with interest. She said nothing, however, so Sesshomaru answered the question he knew she was trying not to ask. "Shippo may be only nearing death." Sesshomaru uncorked the vile of antidote and dribbled it into the kitsune's mouth.

"What do you mean? He isn't breathing. His heart has stopped and he's ice cold! How would the antidote to your Poison Whip help him any...?" she wanted to know. But, at that moment, Shippo's eyes snapped open as he began to take in great gulps of air. Kagome leapt on him like a cougar after a plump rabbit, smothering him in a hug that threatened to undo Sesshomaru's efforts to preserve his life.

"Shippo! You're alive! You're--"

"--trying to breathe!" Shippo finished for her, causing her to drop him on her lap. She smiled down at him, her eyes welling with tears.

"You're bleeding, though! I'll-I'll get the bandages from my backpack!" she said suddenly, lifting Shippo to the ground as she stood to retrieve her yellow luggage-carrier from a few yards away. Once she returned, Sesshomaru watched avidly as she unpacked enough gauze and medicines to treat an army. She began tending to the now-sleeping kitsune's wounds with as much skill as himself, surprising the taiyoukai with her medical knowledge. Rin crept over, to both Sesshomaru and Kagome's delight, to watch with interest as the priestess worked. The small human girl still would not speak, though. 'Just like the first time I met her,' Sesshomaru thought concernedly. When the most serious of Shippo's injuries had been taken care of, Kagome asked, "How did that work? Why did Shippo get better when you gave him that antidote?" Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, reluctant to admit his own mistake.

"When we were fighting off the snake demons that were attacking Rin and Shippo, I inadvertently scratched Shippo with my Poison Flower Claw. I noticed my mistake only when Shippo's pigment began to change." Kagome's features were full of disbelief. Sesshomaru adverted his eye and gazed off into the distance before himself. "The poison that I administer with that attack causes the victim to appear dead as its body shuts down." Sesshomaru stood and turned around to stare at Miroku and Sango, knowing that the chances of Kohaku or Kikyo's revival were too slim to measure.

Kagome came up beside him and took his arm with both of her hands. He glanced down at her out of the corner of his eye, unmoving. She looked back up at him, smiling, and affectionately hugged his arm to herself. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at the top of her head as she pressed her face against his tricep.

"Thank you for saving Shippo. And for...for saying that you did something wrong," she said, the smile still evident in her voice. "You don't do that often...do you?" He stiffened. What was she aiming at, exactly?

"..." She seemed to sense his sudden coldness and explained.

"I just mean," she began, looking up at him with a softer smile than before, "that I'm glad that you could trust me not to hold it against you for making a mistake." He looked back ahead of himself again.

"InuYasha's bullheadedness was not inherited from our father." A welcome silence passed between them as each returned to their own thoughts. And then...

"We're...still together," Rin said, standing just behind them. Sesshomaru and Kagome parted, looking down between them at the sparkly-eyed little girl. "Friendships are forever. We're all still together." Kagome reached down and took Rin's hand.

And, to both girls' immense surprise, Sesshomaru followed suit.

Kagome quickly bounced back, replying to Rin with a cheerful smile. "Of course we are. It's a bond that can never be broken, Rin-chan!"

"InuYasha is in need of our aid, Kagome. The battle has not ended." Kagome met his eye and nodded.

"Right." And, Kagome carrying Shippo in her arms, they started towards the demon slayer and monk. They would have to gather all of their allies to go up against Naraku. 'The humans cannot spend this time mourning the deceased while the living require their assistance.'

(A/N: Sesshomaru's mother never died in the actual series. I made it to where she came back to life here in the fanfiction so that it fits in with the manga, where Sesshomaru later meets her in Chapter #466. After all, he can't meet her in the future if I kill her off when he's just a child. I realize that she is OOC here, so I'd like to offer an explanation to redeem myself. Let's say that Sesshomaru's failure to seek her upon learning of her rebirth has made her bitter towards him and everyone else in #466. And Sesshomaru is rude to her as well, even though he cried at her death, because he feels that _she_ didn't want to see _him_. They are cold to each other in Chapter #466 because they were both too proud to meet with the other and thus feel as though each has abandoned them. A simple misunderstanding.)


	12. Chapter 12: The Chained Ones

**Chapter Twelve:**_ The Chained Ones_

_**Miroku's Point-Of-View**_

Sango was still sobbing into his chest, two handfuls of his robes clutched desperately in her white-knuckled fingers, and was seemingly unaware that his arms were wrapped bracingly around her quaking form. He didn't understand. Why would Kohaku suddenly abandon all hope _now_, when for so long they had fought to save him from this fate? What bothered Miroku the most was that he hadn't protected Sango from her agony. He'd sworn to save Kohaku, but had failed miserably. Looking back, he didn't feel as though he'd really done _anything_ to fulfill the oath he'd made to the demon slayer. He'd sworn to save Kohaku for her, but all he'd done was save her from Kohaku. Why hadn't he stopped that weapon?! When Kohaku had raised that sickle, he should have snatched _that_ away rather than Sango! Then maybe Kohaku would still be alive. He coiled his arms tighter around her, feeling her sadness welling into his _own_ heart, and closed his eyes as she curled up in his embrace. It was as though nothing else in the world mattered to her anymore - she was completely absorbed with her pain. He couldn't think of anything he wouldn't give to have another chance to make Sango happy.

But it was hopeless now. She was so broken...

At that moment, Miroku noticed Sesshomaru, Kagome, and Rin making their way over to them. Shippo was being carried in Kagome's arms, so heavily wrapped in bandages that he looked like a miniature mummy with a tail. Miroku's eyes locked and narrowed at Sesshomaru's indifferent features as he glided over to meet them. That bastard! That unbelievable, unfeeling _bastard_! Earlier, that heartless monster had the nerve to come over and demand his antidote back from Sango - without even the slightest acknowledgment to her brother's death. Sango had been crushed. Needless to say, Miroku was not feeling very friendly towards the taiyoukai at the moment. And considering that the monk was growing especially more Wind Tunnel happy the nearer that Sesshomaru drew, he was beginning to think it would be in the best interest of Sesshomaru's very existence if he didn't get any closer to the demon slayer than he already was. But the Ice Lord continued towards them - as if nothing hurtful had occurred between him and Sango at all!

Miroku slid his arms from around Sango's form, denying her even a glance as she looked up to him in confusion, and distractedly pushed her aside with a forearm, his eyes never leaving the approaching Sesshomaru. Miroku angrily shot to his feet, his long strides towards the monstrous demon sparing no room for doubt towards his intentions, and grasped his rosary beads with his less dangerous hand. The indifference never left the fool's face.

And then he realized that Kagome and the others were in his line of fire and froze. Kagome and Rin, who had stopped a little ways behind Miroku's target, looked at him in bewildered surprise - but Sesshomaru still advanced. Miroku scowled at the audacious full demon, refusing to be the one to back down in this situation.

"Kagome! Take Rin and step away!" he commanded, his eyes still on Sesshomaru as he curled his fingers around his beads. They still didn't move, and Sesshomaru still advanced. "Now!" he shouted, a little more forceful than before. Kagome's answer was to break into a sudden run to catch up to Sesshomaru, followed by the ever-cheerful Rin, before resuming to walk at his side. She wouldn't look at the monk. Miroku gaped in disbelief as his hand fell from his rosary beads. As they passed by, Kagome stopped next to him as she said,

"Sesshomaru is our ally, Miroku..." The monk whirled on her, turning to point a finger at Sango as he tried to meet Kagome's evasive eye.

"An ally wouldn't be so insensitive to his teammates! How can you choose him over-?!"

"He saved Shippo's life!" she interrupted, scowling at him with unusual anger as she rounded on him. When had she grown so serious...?

"You _both_ fought off those demons over there! But Sesshomaru doesn't _care_ about the feelings of others! He was-"

"Not the demons, Miroku! Shippo was poisoned and Sesshomaru gave him his antidote to save his life," Kagome explained, looking at him with a hard expression. It was a look, Miroku concluded, that said "don't push me." He wasn't about to. He watched at her, considering, as he asked,

"Shippo was poisoned? How?" And suddenly Kagome wanted to change the subject.

"And what are you trying to say that Sesshomaru doesn't have any feelings for?!" Miroku was about to interrupt her in the middle of her sentence to force an answer to his question, but as she finished he was reminded of Sango and felt his sudden disgust at the demon rise again.

"Sesshomaru's only fighting to _win_! Sango - he didn't even offer any support to her when Kohaku died!" Kagome blanched. Miroku abruptly came to the realization: she hadn't known about Kohaku's sudden death.

"Kohaku's...dead...?" she asked, her eyes looking past him sightlessly. Miroku immediately regretted what he'd said and tried to find some way to ease the brunt of the blow, but the words were too quick for him. He looked to Sesshomaru, turning the seething rage he was feeling towards himself upon the taiyoukai, when he noticed the murderous glint in the corner of the demon's eye as he fixed him with a cold gaze. Miroku instinctively reached for his rosary beads, though he knew the Wind Tunnel was useless in such close proximity of his _true_ allies. "Kohaku..." Kagome gasped, eyes growing wide. "Sango!"

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"Sango!" Kagome exclaimed, whipping around to face her distraught friend. Sesshomaru watched as she zipped past him, paying him less mind than a common flea, and all but tackled her friend in a comforting embrace. "Sango, I'm so sorry!" she wailed, squeezing the demon slayer so tightly that between her sobs and Kagome's hug, she was definitely suffering some oxygen deprivation. Then they both broke down into tears, holding one another as sobs wracked each of their bodies. Sesshomaru was at a loss, and so turned to face the monk. The monk that had intended to turn his Wind Tunnel on him - and not for the first time today. The monk that had caused Kagome to start crying - again, not for the first time today. The monk went for his rosary beads at Sesshomaru's less-than-amiable expression and the taiyoukai growled, ceasing the human's reflexive action. Sesshomaru stepped over to close the gap between them as he said,

"Would you have me waste time with formalities when lives are in danger?" The monk looked wary for a moment before it finally sunk in.

"I'd hardly think sympathy would be considered a formality, Sesshomaru. Though I see why you couldn't spare the time to say "sorry for your loss." It would have taken much too long, wouldn't it?" The human man looked to him condescendingly and, before Sesshomaru had known it, the monk was airborne. Kagome and Sango squealed in response and it wasn't until then that Sesshomaru remembered that Miroku was supposed to be his "teammate." Miroku had landed in a heap about twenty feet away, but was already slowly sitting himself back up.

"Sesshomaru?!" Kagome's incredulous voice met him from behind. He turned his head to regard her from over his shoulder, his indifferent expression unrelenting as she gave him a disbelieving look. Her face told him, plainly, that her faith in him had fell. If she'd had any faith in him at all to begin with, that is. His eyes narrowed slightly as she asked, "Why? Why would you attack Miroku?!" As if he'd been unprovoked! But Sesshomaru chose to disregard her questions. Why should he acknowledge such a pointless inquiry when she was so obviously biased on the matter? Miroku was her friend - had been for a long time - longer than Sesshomaru had, at the very least. Whatever he said, it would be cancelled out by the monk's complaints. Sesshomaru looked back at the monk has he came forward. He'd righted himself from Sesshomaru's "attack" fairly quickly.

"I told you, Kagome," the human man began as he passed Sesshomaru by. "Sesshomaru cannot be our ally. He doesn't understand the concept of a team - or of being a teammate. He fights alone and for his own reasons. That is all." Sesshomaru's fist clenched and unclenched as he took a step forward, intending to go in aid of his brother. Perhaps he would gain some appreciation from that end.

"Sesshomaru-sama isn't a bad guy! You're wrong! Sesshomaru-sama is-" Rin was cut short as Sesshomaru spoke.

"Rin. We must go." And, just as quickly as Rin's angry rant had begun, it had been dropped. She skipped towards him and slipped her hand into his, smiling up at him comfortingly. But Sesshomaru didn't walk on as he had intended. And for a moment he didn't know why. And then he realized, almost intuitively, that he was waiting for Kagome to arrive at his side. He scowled, earning a curious look from Rin, and immediately began to walk onward. He would not impose his presence on those that held no loyalty to him.

"Miroku..." Kagome's disembodied voice began, causing Sesshomaru's stride to shorten somewhat as he strained to overhear. He was acting ridiculous! "Miroku, Sesshomaru _saved_ Shippo. He didn't have to do that. Shippo's life wasn't in danger until after the battle had already been won, so it had nothing to do with "winning," okay? And, as for being a teammate, he's been fighting to save Kikyo _and_ Kohaku, even though he didn't even _know_ them until today! If he wanted to hurt Sango, he could have just - he could have just killed Kohaku with his Poison Whip before! If he hadn't been careful...then Kohaku would have died of the poisoning. Sesshomaru might fight for his own reasons, but so does Inuyasha. And so does everyone else, including me. Our reasons are to protect others." Sesshomaru stopped walking and turned around to examine Kagome's features. He was searching for sincerity. And he found it.

"Kagome." She looked to him when he spoke, her expression surprised. She hadn't remembered he wasn't out of earshot, then? He felt a small smile overtake his features. That was all the better. "The battle against Naraku would be easier fought with a few sacred arrows in the mix." She looked confused for a moment, but then her face suddenly lit up as a smile sprung over her features.

"Right!" And she ran to his side. Now that both human girls flanked the mighty Lord of the Western Lands, he found that he was fully equipped for battle.

_**Inuyasha's Point-Of-View**_

"Kohaku! Something's happening to Kohaku's body!" shouted a frantic Sango as Inuyasha increased his speed. He'd already been making his way to the rest of the group when Sango had called out. He wasn't making any headway with Naraku on his own, he was sorry to admit, and so had decided to return and employ the help of his friends. Apparently, he'd decided to show up at just the right time. 'Kohaku's _body_...? I sure as Hell missed _something_ here!' he grumbled, intending to ignore any feelings of concern. He was battling - a no-emotion zone. He overcame the horizon and, as he saw Kohaku's body lifting into the air with two other figures, he sped to the scene with all his might.

"What the _Hell_ is going on here?!" he demanded as he reached the center of his friends. Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Sesshomaru, Rin, and a severely banged-up Shippo were staring up at the three hovering bodies with great unease and didn't answer him. Inuyasha growled in annoyance and snapped his gaze to the figures. 'Might as well be talking to a bunch of logs...' And then he saw why everyone was freaked out so much. Kohaku was hovering with Kanna and Kagura - and they were beginning to blend together or something. Inuyasha's nose wrinkled as he watched thin strips of energy coil around the three forms, eventually shaping into links of _chain_! 'Chains...? Why would Naraku want to chain up his attack dogs?' And now Naraku's undead minions have come back to the ground, returned to normal except for the chains that forced them to stay within four feet of each other at all times. 'That'll slow them down during battle,' noted Inuyasha with a smirk.

"Kohaku...is alive again?" Sango's voice asked in obvious disbelief. Inuyasha scowled.

"He's under Naraku's control again, Sango. Don't be fooled!" he warned, half-annoyed.

"Kagura and Kanna are back; I don't like the smell of this one, Inuyasha," Miroku said. "This is all a part of Naraku's plan."

"I got that much, monk! Jeez, what a pain in the ass..." the hanyou snapped, not sure whether the pain-in-the-ass comment was aimed at Naraku for being such a manipulative prick or at the monk for stating the obvious.

"Naraku's reached a new low! Reanimating Kohaku's corpse to use for his own purposes!" came Kagome's furious voice. "He _won't_ get away with this!" Inuyasha glanced back at her with surprise. Was it just him, or was she a little more serious than usual?

"Focus." Sesshomaru was before him all of a sudden, raking his claws through Kanna's chained figure - which had somehow managed to sneak up on him when he wasn't looking.

"Shit!" He spun, fully intent on playing his part in Kanna's demise - but all of a sudden Sesshomaru was slung backwards!

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin screamed, staring after her guardian as Kagome held her back from the fight. Inuyasha retreated a step, finally drawing Tetsusaiga, and looked back at Sesshomaru who had managed to gracefully land on his feet. He trained his eye on Kanna and the other chained minions as he asked,

"What the Hell was that?"

"..."

"Don't pull that damned silent act on me! What just happened?!" he demanded, seriously ticked. "Kanna's not even injured! I know that you landed that hit on her!" He brought up Tetsusaiga and searched for the Wind Scar as he awaited Sesshomaru's reply. Unfortunately, the Chained Ones weren't going to be polite. Kagura and Kanna led the way, dragging Kohaku along whether he liked it or not since he was unlucky enough to be chained in the middle, and sent a brand new frickin' attack his way. Inuyasha blocked an onslaught of white dagger-like energy with Tetsusaiga, barely managing to hold them back with the force that they pressed upon his blade.

"They've got some new tricks, it seems," Miroku said jerkily as he came up to Inuyasha's side, spinning his staff for a shield against the attack. Inuyasha didn't reply; he was still searching for the Wind Scar.

"Sesshomaru, how did Kanna get away uninjured?" asked Kagome, coming up by Sesshomaru's side with a determined expression overtaking her features once the attack had ceased. Sesshomaru glanced down at her indifferently before focusing back on the Chained Ones.

"A barrier was suddenly erected around them. No attack will penetrate it." Inuyasha smirked. 'Sure, he'll answer _her_...' But he didn't give that thought much of a chance to fester - he'd thought of something.

"Except Red Tetsusaiga," he gloated. He transformed the blade again and admired the red-tinted metal. "Now they're really screwed." He rushed forward, bringing the sword down to cut through the barrier.

And then he was flying over the heads of his friends.

"Red Tetsusaiga didn't work!" Shippo's voice shouted in its usual irritating way. 'Well, duh, you stupid pipsqueak!' he thought as he got to his feet again. He came up behind Sesshomaru as the demons - and Kohaku - advanced on them again. They sent a larger barrage of white daggers than before at the entire group, taking everyone by surprise. 'I can't shield _everyone_ with the blade of Tetsusaiga!' Inuyasha realized, suddenly panicky.

Luckily, Miroku had been at the top of his wits and erected a barrier of his own over the group.

"I can't hold a barrier this big for long, Inuyasha! What're we doing?" the monk wanted to know. Sure! Put Inuyasha on the spot, why don't you...? He looked at the Chained Ones, grumbling,

"How the Hell should I know...?" under his breath. Sesshomaru turned his head over his shoulder to face him.

"Have the monk use his Wind Tunnel on them. Kohaku is dead now - there is no hope of him returning to his former self any longer." Inuyasha was thoughtful for a moment as he regarded his older brother. Then he nodded.

"Miroku!" he shouted to him, making the monk snap his gaze to his. "Use your Wind Tunnel!" Miroku paused, looking at Sango pointedly. Sango's brows knit as she said,

"Do it. Kohaku's gone." And so Miroku's barrier came down and his Wind Tunnel came out. Everyone leapt out of range as the rosary beads were torn off the monk's right wrist - but it was apparent after the first few moments of Miroku's attempt that the Chained Ones weren't going _anywhere_.

"What's happening?!" Kagome demanded from the sidelines with Rin and Shippo. Inuyasha shot her an annoyed look.

"Nothing! Are you blind?!" And, surprisingly, Sesshomaru's impenetrable expression appeared to grow more contemptuous at Inuyasha's comment. 'What the Hell is going on with those two...?'

"Monk! Erect a barrier around Kagome and the defenseless. This method is useless..." was Sesshomaru's icy demand. The monk seemed reluctant to obey Sesshomaru's command, but complied after a few moments.

"Hey! Let me out!" Shippo cried, pouting at Miroku. "Sesshomaru said to put the barrier around Kagome and the _defenseless_!" Miroku chuckled lightly, but left the barrier around all three of the non-battlers. Shippo didn't pursue the matter however, and simply plopped himself down on the ground and crossed his arms - a strangely familiar gesture, Inuyasha determined. Where had he saw that before...? He didn't have time to think about that, because the Chained Ones were unleashing their newest horror at Inuyasha and the others.

A flood of dark gas came in billowing clouds towards the group - and Inuyasha _still_ couldn't see the Wind Scar! 'It's just like with Kagura's demon winds!' And, unable to blow the miasma away from the group, Inuyasha decided to retreat - but not before grabbing Sango by the arm to take her with him. As he hitched his arm beneath hers, he realized that Sesshomaru had done the same! He looked to him from the corner of his eye, Sesshomaru glancing at him as well, before landing far away from the previous, poisonous battlefield and releasing Sango from their grips. Inuyasha and his brother took a few choreographed steps forward, blocking Sango from any attack, before realizing what they'd done.

"Are you mimicking me on purpose or something?!" snapped Inuyasha. Sesshomaru's brows knit as he shot him a suspicious look.

"I could say the same of you." Inuyasha's eyes widened in surprise.

"If that was all a coincidence, I think we have bigger problems on our hands..." Sesshomaru smirked at Inuyasha's sarcasm, earning a smirk in return. "But just what _are_ we gonna do about this demon? It's canceling out all our attacks!"

"..."

"Are you just physically incapable of saying the words "I don't know," or something?!" Inuyasha shot.

"..."

"Screw it! Let's get this over with!" And Inuyasha flew back into the battlefield, having no idea what he was planning to do. The Red Tetsusaiga wasn't working, though - so that meant that whatever it was that was keeping their attacks from reaching the Chained Ones wasn't a barrier. What else was left?! Inuyasha leapt into the air, coming back down on his opponents with Tetsusaiga over his head. 'Whatever it is, I'm gonna have to figure it out soon!' He was flung back so hard that he ended up back at Sesshomaru's feet. '...or die trying!' he finished dejectedly.

"Brute force isn't enough this time, Inuyasha."

"Sure! Now you got words! What's our plan, then?!"

"Kagome."

"..." Now it was Inuyasha's turn to pull the silent card.


	13. Chapter 13: Rock, Paper, Scissors

**Chapter Thirteen:**_ Rock, Paper, Scissors_

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

Kagome watched as the billowing gusts of miasma overcame the battlefield, still several yards from overtaking Miroku's barrier, and stood on tenterhooks as Sesshomaru and Inuyasha snatched up Sango to carry her off to safety. She let out an overwhelming sigh as she let go of her bated breath. They'd gotten out unharmed! She put a hand on her chest, over her heart, and told herself to calm down. But it was hard not being part of the fight. Sesshomaru had obviously wanted her to be out of the battle or else he wouldn't have told Miroku to construct the barrier around her. Why the flip didn't he want her to fight with everyone else?! It wasn't because he didn't think she could fight - she'd already proven herself to him on that matter. So was it just that he really didn't trust Miroku to keep an eye on Rin and Shippo? Those two were apparently _not_ becoming the best of friends, but come on! An image of Miroku flying through the air at the sweep of Sesshomaru's arm left Kagome grimacing. Sesshomaru didn't actually think that Miroku would let Rin be injured over their silly arguments, did he?

Kagome shook her head, trying to reassure herself, and looked to Sesshomaru's stoic form as a means of distraction. He was watching Inuyasha dash at the Chained Ones, Tetsusaiga held high overhead. Kagome's brow lowered as she stared at Sesshomaru's unflinching features. It wasn't that he particularly detested Miroku or anything. He just didn't trust Rin with anyone but Kagome; that was why she was in this barrier with the young ones. Kagome almost smiled before realizing how pathetically unreasonable that was. Sesshomaru didn't _trust_ her. That was much too strong of a word. Her features smoothed over with trance-like concentration as she searched for the appropriate word for why Sesshomaru might leave Rin with her. If not trust, then perhaps he favored her a little more than the others since she had been traveling with him for the past week or so. Maybe that made her more worthy of caring for Rin than her other friends?

Inuyasha yelled and Kagome instantly snapped her eyes up to him. She was just in time to watch a red and white blur smudge across the sky, landing at Sesshomaru's feet with an ungodly crash. She took a step towards the edge of the barrier, about to rush to his aid, when he suddenly popped back up to his feet. She sighed again, her hand returning to her battering chest. If those two weren't careful, she was going to drop dead of a heart attack! She was probably safer battling...

"Kagome..." came Miroku's voice from the back of the barrier. He had sat down behind them all, determinedly meditating on the barrier, and hadn't spoken for pretty much the entire battle. Kagome turned at his voice, looking down at him as he cracked open an eyelid.

"What is it, Miroku? The barrier?" she asked, hoping against hope that it wasn't going to be about -

"It's about Sesshomaru." She mentally groaned. 'How did I know?' She sighed again, moving between the two children who were transfixed on the battle and would probably not be interested in anything less than a nuclear warhead at the moment. Maybe they shouldn't be watching this sort of thing at such a young age...? Kagome knelt down in front of Miroku and looked him in the eye - his only open eye - and said evenly,

"Miroku, he isn't a bad guy. He just...isn't always as friendly as the rest of us." Miroku's grip visibly tightened on his staff as his knuckles flashed white. "Look, he's protected me this entire time. We can't just make conclusions about people like that."

"Kagome, listen. Sesshomaru is deceptive. He _thinks_ about the things that he does, unlike our Inuyasha. That makes him a little more dangerous...and a lot less trustworthy. He doesn't do anything without reason. He doesn't put effort into anything that he won't benefit from. He plans his schemes as elaborately as Naraku!" Kagome gasped and sat back away from him a little, cringing at her friend's words.

"So now you're placing Sesshomaru in the same category as Naraku?!" she demanded, her temper flaring just slightly. Sesshomaru had become her friend, too!

"No, it's just..." It seemed that Miroku had noticed her anger. Kagome pressed him with an "it's just _what_?" look, making his shoulders slump with what she hoped was surrender. She felt something change in the atmosphere and the hair on the nape of her neck shot up.

"Miroku! The barrier!" And the atmosphere instantly became statical again, telling Kagome that Miroku had corrected his waver in concentration. Her chest heaved with another sigh of relief before she looked to Miroku appraisingly. "We can talk about this later. Just focus on the barrier for now. For the kids' sakes." Miroku scowled and tacked his gaze to hers. Kagome looked up to where she knew the barrier existed, expectant, but relaxed when the atmosphere stayed the same. She stood up again and stared down at him, waiting for his disapproving opinions of Sesshomaru.

"Kagome!" shouted Inuyasha. She whipped around, thoughts of Miroku and hers argument disappearing as images of Inuyasha's impaled body crowded them away. Luckily, he was just fine - except for a few bumps and bruises due to his earlier flight through the afternoon sky. He gazed at her with sheer determination as he shouted, "Use your sacred arrow to penetrate the barrier!" Kagome nodded, stepping from the barrier with a backwards glance to Miroku to signal that he should create a temporary exit for her. He did so, but with a dubious glance in Sesshomaru's direction - as though not sure if he should turn her loose, for fear of Sesshomaru attacking her. Kagome rolled her eyes, huffing haughtily.

"For the last time, Sesshomaru is our _ally_!" she admonished, in a last-ditch effort to convince her skeptical friend. Miroku was unconvinced, it seemed, so with a heartening smile at the two small children, she drew an arrow. Her hand shook as she brought it up with her bow, aiming at Kagura, who was hovering on the left. She didn't know why, but she just couldn't bear to attack the middle figure - Kohaku. Even though it wasn't really him and she knew that she really ought to aim there, considering that such a hit would likely affect all three of the Chained Ones, she just couldn't. It was Sango's brother - or at least his body - and it seemed wrong, somehow. She returned her attention to her bow and arrow, which was still quaking. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes - but then she felt someone's eyes on her and looked in their direction.

Sesshomaru. She blushed and looked back to her bow and arrow. 'Focus,' she told herself, but a thought decided to distract her despite her wishes. _He doesn't understand the concept of a team - or of being a teammate. He fights alone..._ She felt a ripple of doubt and willed it away. Miroku was making her doubt Sesshomaru? Was that why she was shaking so badly right now? 'The battle. Everyone's counting on me...' she looked up at the Chained Ones and forced her bow to steady itself.

Then she released her arrow. It whizzed through the air, seemingly slicing through the very sky with its shikon light, and stuck itself in the barrier, just out of reach of Kagura's sneering face. That face reminded her of the wind sorceress' heartless nature - which helped her to understand why she had not remained dead. Naraku still held her heart - as well as Kanna's. They'd never truly died. But Kohaku...?

The arrow still pushed against the barrier, reminding Kagome with a sickening churn of the stomach of the biology assignment she had to complete last month. She'd had to dissect a frog, but its limbs had to be secured with dissection pins. And, since they'd been dead for awhile, their skin was really tough so she'd had to push really hard...and her sacred arrow was doing a striking reenactment of that assignment. 'Kagura's face looks about like mine when the thing jerked,' she noted, the bile rising in her throat for a moment. Why did dead bodies have to have working nerves...? _Sesshomaru doesn't _care_ about the feelings of others!_ Where the heck was all of these weird ideas coming from? Sesshomaru was her teammate and her friend! Miroku...was just overly suspicious. That was all, right? She shook her head roughly, trying to dispel the thoughts. 'Why is biology and Sesshomaru coming up at a time like this? I'm in the middle of battle and thinking about homework!'

"You're distracted about something." Kagome jumped at the voice, turning to meet Sesshomaru's frosty eye - but he was looking over her head at the battle beyond. _Sesshomaru is deceptive...that makes him a little more dangerous._ Kagome turned back to the battle, acutely aware of Sesshomaru's presence close behind her. She realized, with a twinge of shame at herself, that he was suddenly a little _too_ close. She stepped forward, hoping not to appear obvious.

"It's nothing. I'm always like this when I fight," she lied. Well, maybe it wasn't a complete lie. She was like this when she had to desperately defend her friends - when she was the only one left that could. The arrow fell uselessly to the ground, having barely made a dent in the barrier. 'I should have focused more!' she reprimanded herself, staring crossly at the harmless twig of a weapon that laid yards away on the grass.

"No," he answered flatly. She fought to remember what exactly he was replying to and, when she did, was floored. That was it? No explanation, no room for argument, just "no?" He'd cut off all her possible exits by denying her a reason as to why he refused to accept her excuse. She would've almost been impressed if her anger hadn't overcome it. His reply had left her defenseless to contradict him! _He plans his schemes as elaborately as Naraku!_ chided Miroku's faded voice. Sesshomaru's voice drowned out her following thoughts as he advised, "Discussing it will only serve to further advert your attention. Focus on the battle. Manage your personal issues at a time when it will not injure you to do so." Kagome hadn't turned to face him the entire time, but his voice told her that he was looking down at the crown of her head with partially-concealed concern.

She understood him. He meant that she would end up getting attacked by the Chained Ones if she started talking about what was on her mind right then. Even though he'd obviously come over because he wanted to know what was weighing her down so much, he wasn't willing to find out at the risk of her getting injured. Not that she'd tell him what was wrong to begin with. She could just _imagine_ how that little talk would start out: _Oh, well, I'm just wondering if you've got a hidden agenda with being my friend because Miroku says that you have to have an ulterior motive in order to do anything that entails effort._ She sighed, at an utter loss. Not only would that tick Sesshomaru off and maybe even hurt him, but it would affect Miroku, as well. In fact, it would probably kill the poor ol' monk.

A hand clasped her narrow shoulder and Kagome looked back to meet Sesshomaru's amber eyes. She'd never really noticed his eye color before, actually. It was a very bright, sparkling amber. Like Inuyasha's, only different somehow. It looked like there were little shards of diamond reflecting the light from them...a full demon trait? It was highly entrancing and Kagome had a difficult time persuading her brain to kindly remove them from Sesshomaru's penetrating stare. So hard a time, that Sesshomaru had to speak before she was released from the spell.

"You aren't battling." And then he shoved past her and stood in stance before her, eyes on the Chained Ones. Kagome was, for a moment, to dazed to realize what had just happened - but when she came back to sense, she quickly stepped in to defend her case.

"I _am_ _so_ battling! My sacred arrows are the only things that can penetrate that barrier!" she bristled, refusing to sit on the sidelines again. Sesshomaru looked to her out of the corner of his eye, scowling for once. Wait. For _once_? When had it become so uncommon for the taiyoukai to look unhappy? His anger spooked her more than she was willing to admit. "Don't you give me that look! I'm serious!" His eyes narrowed further and she hoped to god that she was downwind - he could smell fear, right?

"The arrow did nothing," he reminded, his tone dark. Kagome was unaffected this time.

"That's because I wasn't focusing! Next time, I'll -"

"Exactly," he interrupted, turning his head back towards the battle as he lifted Tokijin into position. Kagome was nonplussed. What had he meant by that? And then her unvoiced question was answered. "You weren't focusing and because of that, your attack _failed_. And it will fail the next time, and the next, and the next - _until_ you can focus entirely on this battle." Kagome stared at the back of his silvery locks, unsure of what to say. _He doesn't put effort into anything that he won't benefit from._ Kagome frowned, but decided that if she was going to be included in this battle, then she was going to have to work out this Sesshomaru-complex fast. And without him discovering her wavering faith in him. She felt a pang of guilt at that. Sesshomaru had been nothing but kind to her and she was doubting him _now_ when he and everyone else needed her most? How low could she get?

"Okay, fine! If you want me to be able to focus, then you need to answer a question for me!" she demanded matter-of-factly. He looked back at her out of the corner of his eye with a look that either meant "and what if I don't care?" or "I'm listening." He was so unreadable at times! Kagome opted for the latter and asked, "What good am I to you?" Her expression was determined and stony and remained so even as his expression flashed to surprise. He looked back at the Chained Ones, which were now taking enjoyment at Inuyasha and Sango's expense by sending them another wave of "energy daggers." Inuyasha was holding it off with the blade of his Tetsusaiga while Sango deftly evaded them from the sky, riding expertly atop Kilala. What she couldn't dodge, she easily deflected with her hiraikotsu. It seemed to Kagome that they had already grown acclimated to the new attack. Kagome turned her attention back to Sesshomaru's ankle-length hair, boring a hole into the full demon's skull.

"..." After several more moments of silence, he said, "You care for Rin." Kagome scowled, opening her mouth to ask if that was really all he had to say about her, when she sighed. She closed her mouth, her expression becoming bored, as she turned her head to the side to stare at the blank stretch of grass that carpeted the ground away from the battle.

"Well, I suppose that'll do, then. I'll just be the babysitter." And then she came up to his side, ignoring the look he was giving her, and brought her bow and arrow out to fire at the Chained Ones. Before she released, she shouted, "Inuyasha! Follow up with your Wind Scar!" Inuyasha was jarred from his fight against the daggers and glared back at her with malice as he barked,

"I would if I could, but Kagura's demon winds are keeping it from forming!" Kagome glowered back at him with just as much vehemence as he'd shown her, replying with an air of annoyance,

"That's why I'm using my sacred arrows, right?! It makes Kagura lose control over the wind!" Inuyasha was stumped for a reply, but his stubbornness wouldn't allow for him to admit that she was right. Instead, he merely shot back,

"Shoot, then!" And she did. Without a moment's thought to anything but the battle - and she'd aimed right for Kohaku in her sudden single-mindedness. She winced at that. She hoped that Sango would forgive her.

"What would you have preferred, then?" came Sesshomaru's voice from her right. She glanced up at him, her expression perplexed, as she struggled to remember what it was that he was referring to. How was this guy always managing to throw her for a loop? After all, this same struggle for understanding had occurred only a few moments ago at his inexplicable "no" when she'd made her excuse for being distracted, hadn't it? How many times a day was he intending for this to happen...?

"Wind Scar!" Inuyasha bellowed. And suddenly it came to her.

"I would have...preferred..." Her eyes darted back and forth, searchingly, as she trailed off. How did she want Sesshomaru to think of her? Unable to come up with an answer that she could form into actual words, she stated simply, "I would have wanted you to call me your friend." She met his eye, smiling with faux-cheerfulness. "But I guess it's okay if it's one-sided for now. After all, you don't really know me that well, right?" And the smile sort of fell away as she looked back at the battle, watching the combined Wind Scar and sacred arrow as it dashed across the battlefield, leaving charred soil in its wake.

"..." The attack collided against the barrier with all of its might and Kagome watched as the barrier flashed away.

"Yes! We did it!" Kagome burst out, jumping into the air with a glittering smile. She aimed it straight at Inuyasha as she shouted, "Attack quickly, Inuyasha! Before they reconstruct the barrier!" Inuyasha smirked knowingly at her as he heaved his Tetsusaiga over his shoulder. Kagome watched him, eyes alight with interest, as he slammed his sword forward with a mighty,

"Wind Scar!" Kagome followed it dutifully as it raced across the battlefield again.

"He did it..." she murmured, somehow surprised. But why? Had she forgotten that Inuyasha was such an excellent fighter? She beamed as the attack crashed into the Chained Ones.

And then frowned. Something was wrong, but before she could understand what - the Wind Scar was hurled right back at Inuyasha! She gasped, eyes widening as she paled.

"Kanna! Her mirror deflected it!" she shouted, so crazed with panic for Inuyasha that she ran blindly towards the attack's new target. "Inuyasha!" she screeched, but was yanked back by the waist of her skirt as Sesshomaru somehow hooked a finger behind it. Kagome turned, wide-eyed, and regarded him with embarrassment, fear, panic, and rage all at once. "You let me go! Inuyasha is - is - INUYASHA!" she bellowed, suddenly breaking away from Sesshomaru's weak hold on her and making a wild dash at Inuyasha.

Halfway to him, she stopped and pulled an arrow from her quiver, shooting a sacred arrow directly in the line of the rebounded Wind Scar - which effectively intercepted it. She stared at the spot where the Wind Scar had been destroyed, gasping for breath from her insane run, and allowed her gaze to wander to Inuyasha - who was looking at her with something of gratitude. She stared at him for a moment before walking over to him the rest of the way, her entire body trembling.

They just stood there, looking at each other for a minute, before Kagome's eyes started welling up with tears for no apparent reason. Inuyasha started in surprise, his eyes growing wide.

"Kagome...!"

_**Inuyasha's Point-Of-View**_

"Kagome...!" he exclaimed, unsure of himself. What the Hell was he supposed to do with her?! He stumbled over the next few moments with ungainly mannerisms and half-executed gestures, not quite sure what to do with himself. Why did she have to put him on the spot like this?! Then, as if knowing that he was at a complete loss, she leaned - more like _wilted_, really - into his chest and curled her arms to herself. Well, it was easy enough for Inuyasha to figure out what to do after that. He put his arms around her and rested his head atop hers. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, hopefully in a consoling tone. She shook her head against his chest and reached up to wipe her eyes.

"I thought...with the Wind Scar..." Inuyasha held her tighter. 'Damn it. I knew it,' he thought dismally. She _did_ love him! Well, this just complicated matters an awful lot for him. He couldn't just push her away...could he? "Kagome, listen -" he said as he peeled her from his chest. He looked down at her, glancing up apprehensively at the Chained Ones to make sure they weren't making a move yet. She was looking up at him with confusion plastered over her tear-stained face. Yeah, that made it easier. He sighed.

"Kagome, I...you were right back there. At the Sacred Tree, I mean." He adverted his gaze from hers as he began to see the transformation - the transformation from confusion to hurt.

"Kikyo...right?" He wouldn't meet her eye. Kikyo was probably long gone by now - and he'd left her there without anyone but that filthy _thing_! He felt her delicate fingers touch his chin and, somehow, he supposed that must have been the secret technique that made stubborn dog demons look at sad human girls. She was smiling at him, even through her sadness, and even though another wave of tears were overtaking her already shining cheeks. "I'm glad that you made up your mind, Inuyasha. I'm glad that, even though I'm here and Kikyo isn't, that you can still be loyal to her. It's okay - I'll...be okay." Inuyasha reached to wipe away her tears, but she batted his hand away with a smile and did it herself. She could wipe her own tears now, was what that had meant. He smiled back at her.

"We're friends, though, right?" Kagome's face suddenly exploded with a grin and Inuyasha was taken aback. "Wha...what?" She grinned wider.

"Oh nothing, Inuyasha. It's just," she smiled up at him with a fainter expression. "That's what people always say in my time when they have to dump someone." He started in surprise, giving her an odd expression.

"Dump...?"

"Tell them they don't want to be with them anymore." Inuyasha's brow lowered in concentration.

"I don't mean that I don't want you around me," he said slowly.

"No, what I meant was that they don't want to be a couple anymore." Inuyasha was even more confused now.

"Who doesn't?"

"No one. It's just a figure of speech." He raised an eyebrow.

"So what's "dump" mean?"

"It means that you don't want to be a couple with me anymore!" she snapped, her patience obviously wearing thin. He decided to snap back.

"We weren't a couple to begin with!" She appeared to swell with anger.

"No, but you had feelings for me!" she shot. Inuyasha crossed his arms and looked away defiantly.

"Yeah, nausea," he clipped. The silence that followed told him that he'd gone too far. He glanced back at her nervously. She was boiling with rage...

"SIT BOY!" And sit he did.

"Damn it all to Hell! Next time you're all sad and crap, go run to fuckin' Sesshomaru! Let's see you fuckin' sit _him_!" he grumbled from his face-plant. He hated this stupid subjugation necklace!

"I have an idea about this new opponent, Kagome," Inuyasha heard his brother say from above him. 'Speak of the devil.' Kagome's feet turned to face the opposite direction.

"Huh? Oh, what's your plan?" she asked, her voice suddenly taking on a chipper note as opposed to the enraged sonic-boom that she'd used to administer the "sitting." He grumpily mimicked her under his breath, waiting for the spell to lift. 'Now I know how a coffee table feels, having people talk over it all the time...' he thought sarcastically.

"It's impossible to go about this seriously with Inuyasha in such a ridiculous position," Sesshomaru concluded, nudging his brother with the pointy tip of his black shoes. Inuyasha growled.

"Get the fuck off me!" he slammed, forcing himself up off of the ground with all of his strength. "Jeez! We don't have time for this shit!" he ground out, slowly getting to his feet again. He glowered at Kagome and Sesshomaru, desperately willing the gods to curse them with subjugation beads of their own.

"Right. Sorry, Inuyasha!" And then she frickin' thumped him on the back, sending him sprawling to the ground!

"Damn it to HELL!" He cursed, getting to his feet much easier this time. The necklace still held some weight from the spell, so it had made it more difficult to hold his balance. It had done as much damage as tripping over a tree root, but he was still as pissed as Naraku when his baboon suit was missing. He drilled an angry glare into the two onlookers - Kagome and Sesshomaru - but Kagome looked so apologetic over it that he didn't have the heart to yell at her. He just huffed haughtily and turned to Sesshomaru, ignoring the slight smirk that tugged at the corner of his brother's mouth. "Okay, so what's the damned plan, already?!" It had better be bloody brilliant for all the trouble Inuyasha had just went through to hear it properly...

"I've noticed that the Chained Ones are much like the children's game "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in the way that they use a means of checks and balances to cancel out all our attacks. Naraku has watched all of us, waiting to gather enough information on our techniques to find just the way to make them useless against one or the other of his incarnations." Inuyasha looked at him, amazed that he had thought of such a simple way to explain this new monster, but forcing his features to mold to his usual irritated countenance. Kagome seemed to have no qualms about showing how much she was impressed, however. Her eyes sparkled with interest as she glued them to him. Sesshomaru pressed on, unaware of his fangirl. "With Inuyasha's Wind Scar, Kanna's mirror would deflect it. With Red Tetsusaiga, Naraku knew that the only technique Inuyasha could use for destroying barriers was "Barrier Shatter." Such a weak attack is not powerful enough for the new, stronger barrier that Naraku has created by way of sacrificing and reanimating his incarnations. Red Tetsusaiga is not strong enough."

"Oh, and I suppose that you know of a better attack for Red Tetsusaiga?!" Inuyasha fumed, unable to bear his brother's taunting of Tetsusaiga. For crying out loud, wasn't this the same sword that he was always belly-aching over? Why would he stand there and call it weak for?! Sesshomaru smirked at him - a knowing smirk. What a pompous ass...

"As a matter of fact, I do, Inuyasha. It's called the "Kongosoha," but I doubt that a half-demon such as yourself would be able to travel to the location of its attainment _twice_ in a lifetime." Inuyasha's jaw dropped. There was a stronger technique for Tetsusaiga out there all this time and Sesshomaru _knew_ about it?! He was about to jump in with a threat to loosen his big brother's lips, when Sesshomaru suddenly broke eye contact with him and delved back into business. "However, as Naraku could not find a way to get around Kagome's sacred arrow, he merely used Kanna's mirror as a back-up in case such an attack was made. Which, I am confident, was his most dire mistake." Side-tracked with this new scrap of information, Inuyasha abandoned the Kongosoha topic.

"Well?" he said irritably.

"You like to create dramatic pauses, huh, Sesshomaru...?" Kagome asked, perhaps a little more impatiently than she would have allowed her forced smile to let on. A slight flicker from the corner of the taiyoukai's eye, aimed in Kagome's direction, told his younger brother just whose annoyance had mattered most in this instance. The hanyou crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air, looking to them both out of the corner of his eye. In Inuyasha's professional opinion, Sesshomaru was starting to get really messed up. The demon lord soon went on to explain himself upon noticing Kagome's disfavor. 'Yep. Seriously screwy.'

"My plan is simple. If we eliminate even one of Naraku's incarnations, we destroy the entire monster. Like "Rock, Paper, Scissors," all three devices must be in play or else the entire system falls apart." Inuyasha thought on this. It made sense, of course, just like every time that Sesshomaru came up with a scheme. He really thought things through. If the rock didn't exist in the game, then scissors would always beat paper. If the scissors didn't exist, paper would always beat rock. Same with paper. So, if you applied the same concept to the Chained Ones...

"So, which do we go after?" Kagome prompted, earning a scathing look from Inuyasha. She instantly backed away, feigning scared, as she held her hands up in surrender.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. We gotta get past that damned barrier first - not to mention, find a way to actually land a hit on them," he grumbled, not at all enjoying this new barrier problem.

"There is a way," Sesshomaru began, but Inuyasha detected a hint of uncertainty belying his tone. That was very...not Sesshomaru. He looked to him with blatant suspicion spreading over his face as Kagome asked, none the wiser,

"Well, what is it? You _really_ like these little cliffhangers, hm?" she admonished good-naturedly, her smile entirely genuine this time around. Sesshomaru seemed to appreciate the gesture, but didn't appear to feel any more sure of what he was about to suggest. He even sighed.

"We must bring Kohaku back to life." Inuyasha and Kagome both froze.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"Bring Kohaku back to life?" they chorused. Kagome was looking at him as if he'd grown an extra head.

"Then why not bring him back to life earlier?!" she demanded, her friendly disposition vanishing in sudden anger at him. His brow lowered purposefully.

"I have no attachment to the boy." Kagome grew visibly more irate. She seemed well near ready to strike him, as it was. He bore down on her, refusing to allow a human to get the best of him. Inuyasha suddenly stepped between them.

"Chill out and stop bitching so much, Sesshomaru. You're about as bad as her," Inuyasha said coolly, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to gesture at Kagome. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed all the more at Inuyasha's two-cents.

"Uncouth language is to be expected from the lower breeding." Inuyasha's expression went from collected and controlled to angrily surprised.

"What the fuck did you just say about me?!" he started testily, adopting a challenging stance as he turned on him.

"What do you mean "no attachment?" What about Sango?! Do you really not care that Sango's upset about her brother?!" Kagome piped in, pushing past Inuyasha as though he was merely an innocent bystander.

"Hey! I was talking here!" Inuyasha crowed, glaring at her meaningfully. Kagome returned the gaze for a moment before sticking her tongue out at him, pulling down a lower eyelid to give him the well-known "stink-eye."

"Sango's pain is...touching," was Sesshomaru's grueling reply, forcing "heartfelt" words to appease the furious human wench. They said the higher they stood, the harder they fell, didn't they? Well, perhaps such a long descent as he was enduring was in compliment to his high status, then. Some tension melted away from Kagome's shoulders, which had been drawn up past her ears, as she regarded him with half-hidden suspicion. He went on to explain, "It was impossible for me to resurrect him earlier because I feel no emotion towards him, personally. It's the same in the case of the kitsune."

"So," Kagome started, her expression stern as she groped to understand. "Even though you want to resurrect someone, you can't unless you sincerely want to save their lives from the bottom of your heart?" Sesshomaru studied her, wondering how this limit had been so well-explained by someone who barely knew anything of him or his inherited fang.

"Correct." Kagome began to nod affirmingly when something suddenly seemed to dawn on her and her face popped up to gaze at him with disbelief. She opened her mouth, about to say something, but apparently got a hold of herself and decided against it. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her, curious as to what she had suppressed, and examined her knowing smile with deep distrust. What had just crossed that human's mind...?

"So now what?!" Inuyasha griped, glaring at Sesshomaru as he crowded past Kagome with a taunting glance. Kagome bumped him out of her way with a strong blow from her hips - sending Inuyasha stumbling off-balance and leaving Kagome with a smirk.

"If we bring Kohaku back to life, then that'll destroy the monster because it's made up of sacrifices, right? How are we supposed to use Tenseiga to bring Kohaku back to life if you don't care about Kohaku, then?" asked Kagome, who seemed to enjoy thinking aloud. Inuyasha came back up to Kagome's side, eyeing her warily, but wearing a severely ticked expression all the same. He rubbed his neck, no doubt sore from his topple, as he fixed Sesshomaru with a smirk.

"Easy. Sesshomaru's going to do some crash-bonding with Kohaku's reanimated corpse and realize that he actually does want to save Kohaku because the guy's really great when he's not, you know, trying to kill him..." jibed Inuyasha, giving up his sarcasm when he received only cold, gritty looks for his efforts. He shouldn't have made a wisecrack about the recently deceased. "Jeez, you guys need to lighten up." He darted looks between the two of them, beginning to squirm under the unappreciative looks. Crossing his arms defiantly as he regained his impertinent attitude, the half demon let out an aggravated "keh," and focused his uninviting expression on Sesshomaru. "Whatever. So what _is_ the plan, then?" the hanyou bit out, breaking the awkward silence - frustrated silence, if you were Sesshomaru.

"The only way is Konkatsu," he answered gravely. "Tenseiga's only technique to allow a human wielder access to the power locked within the healing fang. And it requires the splitting of a human soul to do so." He looked to Kagome and Inuyasha, his expression uncharacteristically dark. "And the only human who cares enough for the boy..."

"...is Sango," finished Kagome, her eyes drifting to the flying demon slayer.


	14. Chapter 14: Love Beats All

**Chapter Fourteen:**_ Love Beats All_

_**Sango's Point-Of-View**_

"Sango!" The demon slayer darted a furtive look to the Chained Ones before focusing her attention on Kagome, who'd called to her from the ground. She was motioning for her to come down. Her forehead wrinkled in brief anxiety - it looked like a group meeting. She agilely brought Kilala into a wide arc, turning the flying two-tail around and into a startling dive. The beast landed with barely a jolt to show for its swift drop and Sango swung her legs over to dismount, giving Kagome and the two dog brothers a measuring look. "What is it? You guys look worried..." she began, unable to mask her apprehension for horrible news.

Kagome was giving her that look again. No single emotion could really label that expression. It was, originally, a product of Kagome's very own. She wore it when Inuyasha had said something thoughtless, when Inuyasha had done something thoughtless, and when Inuyasha had said or done something thought_ful_...but other than that, Sango had only ever saw it in the hot springs when they'd talked together. She was instantly disgusted and exasperated with Inuyasha and shot him a glare that proved it. He stared back at her with genuine puzzlement.

"Okay, spill! What'd you do this time?!" Inuyasha just stood there stupidly for a moment before regaining his wits about him and shouting,

"I haven't done anything! Why're you jumpin' my case for all of a sudden?! Fuckin' "Piss Off Inuyasha Day" around here or somethin'...?" Sango was unmoved, to say the least.

"Kagome doesn't look happy - and usually, you're the one to blame when that happens! So what was it this time? Foot-in-mouth syndrome?" She took an intimidating step forward, forcing Inuyasha to retreat a step under her speculating eye. Sango didn't consider herself one to be reckoned with when speaking in Kagome's defense. "And don't give me that "she started it" bull, either! You're always the first to ignite the inferno!"

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me this time!" Inuyasha blasted back, crossing his arms and turning away to avoid her fury. His features slackened with more than the usual degree of nonchalance.

"Uh oh. The other look," she said, an ominous chill slithering down her spine. Not a muscle on Inuyasha's body showed even the slightest response to Sango's sudden concern, save for his dog ears twitching a couple of times. "And your ears ticked, too. Oh no, it's worse than I thought!" This time Inuyasha _did_ respond, turning to fix her with a truly lost expression - with which Sesshomaru and Kagome could seemingly relate. She explained, "Every time that Kagome gets that strange look like she isn't sure whether she's happy or sad and Inuyasha gets that extra-careless attitude, something terrible happens." She looked between the two suspicious culprits convictingly - and they looked every bit the guilty as they rushed to abandon said expressions. For a long time, nobody spoke or looked directly at one another. It was Sango who finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "So...what is it?"

Inuyasha abruptly looked to Kagome by way of answer, diverting the demon slayer's inquisitive look to the futuristic teenager. Kagome was obviously searching for the right words to tell her about whatever was so bad. As Sango waited, she let her mind wander towards possible answers. She started thinking about how Kagome would tell her that they would be forced to retreat from the Chained Ones, as they were oblivious to every attack. And probably of how Inuyasha had sworn to fight to the death anyway, despite the hopelessness. That was probably why Kagome was giving her that look right now. She really wished the girl would just show her temper instead, as that look always made Sango want to cheer her up. It was taking every ounce of her will-power not to seize Kagome in a bone-crushing bear hug, as it stood. Kagome was looking absolutely distraught now, barely meeting her eye as she said in a peculiarly mousy voice,

"It's about Kohaku." Ice. All over. Her mind refused to allow her face to return to normal, leaving it in a helplessly shocked expression. The mere mention of her brother was going to do this to her...? For how long must she grieve? She felt like she was going to have to swallow soon, as her heart appeared to have taken up residence in her throat, but still had no control over her body. Kohaku, who had died in her very arms only hours ago. Kohaku, whom she was forced to go against again - even if it _was_ only his soulless body this time. Kohaku, the source of this incredible pain that she had to hide - hide until she could hardly feel it anymore. If she allowed herself to realize the full extent of her misery, she would be the death of her friends during this battle. They were counting on her. She had to remain strong for the friends she had left. "Sango? Sango, are you okay?" She instantly returned to herself, putting her features into check as she shoved down the lump in her throat. She smiled half-heartedly at Kagome.

"Yes, I'm alright. What about Kohaku?" she said, meeting her friend's eye with steadiness she believed herself incapable of. Kagome only looked to her for a moment before breaking eye contact with her to gaze over her shoulder. She turned to face Sesshomaru, who Kagome was obviously passing her off to, and raised her eyebrows with a touch of annoyance. "Well? What is it then? I feel like I'm getting the run-around from all you guys. Just _tell_ me, already!" Sesshomaru regarded her with calm indifference, his eyes boring into hers without even the slightest hint to whether he was as disturbed as the others. For the first time since she'd come out of the sky on Kilala, she felt like she was going to get a straight answer. Sesshomaru suddenly looked over her shoulder, scanning the others' faces as he searched for someone else to shoulder the task on to and snatching the expectant look from Sango's features. She sighed, throwing her hands up. And then he spoke.

"You feel strongly about your brother." Sango was instantly on her guard at that statement. Why did this guy always have to so creepily state the obvious? It was one of the lesser reasons she'd christened him the "Ice Lord." Miroku, Rin, and Shippo sidled over to the rest of them, taking advantage of the Chained Ones' relenting pause, but Sango completely ignored them. She was entirely focused on this argument with Sesshomaru now.

"Of course I do! He's my - _was_ my brother, and I love him!" she corrected, pressing her adamant personality onto him whether he liked it or not. She wasn't going to back down, no matter what he threw at her. This was definitely leading up to something she wasn't going to like. "What's that have to do with Kohaku?" Sesshomaru turned slightly to where his back was slantedly turned to the rest of the group, but from Sango's position his face was still visible. And he was scowling...

"Love," he stated flatly. And then he let an eerie stretch of silence overtake the word. After awhile, the stillness had reached a point of maddening tension that Sango could not and would not stand for. She was about to demand her answers from one of her more reasonable, less freakish group members when, "That nonsensical word is the most laughable term to have ever disgraced intelligent language."

Sango was speechless. She whipped her head around to look at Kagome, nearly giving herself whiplash in the process, and saw that her friend was equally incapacitated. Miroku and Inuyasha were staring discreetly at him from the corner of their eyes, both appearing taken aback at the strange outburst. Even the two children had stopped bickering (Rin had been poking Shippo in the arm again and again, much to the kitsune's annoyance) to gaze up at the feudal lord in baffled disbelief.

Rounding on Sesshomaru's self-confident pillar of a figure, which still refused to turn and meet her enraged glare, Sango couldn't form a single word. This was not due to having nothing to say. Quite the contrary, it was a matter of deciding which insult out of billions that she should use to criticize the Ice Lord's cynical view of love. Unfortunately, before she could make up her mind, Kagome chipped in and said it all for her.

"Sesshomaru, you're wrong." And then Sesshomaru turned his head over his shoulder to meet her gaze, the rest of him following soon after. Sango was watching them stare each other down with avid interest, waiting for the next move, when she suddenly realized,

"Hey! Anyone going to get around to telling me what my brother has to do with any of this...?" Kagome and Sesshomaru held their stubborn glowers for only a few moments longer before turning to her, temporarily giving up their icy obstinance. Kagome was the first to start.

"There's a way that we can defeat the Chained Ones and...and maybe even resurrect your brother." Sango's eyes went wide as overjoyed excitement claimed her features. Kagome saw it and quickly emphasized, "_Maybe_! Don't get your hopes up, okay?" Her friend seemed pained at having to tell her that, but Sango's hopes weren't dampened in the least.

"Tell me how," she urged, willing to try anything at this point. Miroku and the others were listening aptly, as eager as herself to save her brother from his twice-suffered fate.

"The technique will succeed, Kagome," the taiyoukai replied, ignoring Sango. "The only obstacle to overcome is securing a willing human. Most humans tend to have a small capacity for pain, even when it is intentionally inflicted upon themselves in advancing towards an essential goal. That being said, I doubt that any human here would undergo such affliction - especially the most unbearable agony known to man - when the reward is so small." Sango snapped her eyes to him, weighing his blank expression without much success. Was he trying to say that Kohaku's life was a small reward? The Lord of the Western Lands gave her a pointed look as he finished, "If Sango's alleged "love" for her brother is enough to carry her through such pain, then there is no argument that Kohaku can be saved."

"_Its_ power? The technique of what, exactly?" prompted Sango. She _really_ wanted to ask what the "most unbearable agony known to man" was, but felt that she'd be supplying ammunition for Sesshomaru's cynicism of love if she did. He would take it that she was reconsidering the idea in light of the pain she'd have to go through to bring her brother back from the Next World. Not a chance. Sesshomaru looked to her from the corner of his eye.

"Tenseiga." Sango's brow knit again, glancing questioningly to the two swords at the demon lord's side. His expression was blank as he answered, "Yes, I intend to allow you to wield Tenseiga for your own purposes."

"How?" she demanded sharply, giving him a hard look for his bare statements. He returned the stare in full, but soon looked off to Kagome, sighing. Sango blinked. A sighing Sesshomaru spelled trouble.

"Kagome will explain. I'm losing patience having to repeat myself..." And then he turned around and walked off a little ways, standing on his own away from the group and staring up at the Chained Ones with another indecipherable expression passing his fair countenance. 'Frosty guy...' was Sango's last thought before turning to Kagome for the details of their plan.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

As Kagome launched into a sloppier version of Sesshomaru's so-named _Rock, Paper, Scissors_ theory, he turned his focus inward so as to refrain from stepping in and taking over the briefing himself. He very seldom experienced headaches but, sure enough, he was feeling a hellish one creeping up on him now. He knew that Kagome could be a stubborn handful, but he had no idea that her friends were exactly the same. It was like an entire brigade of Inuyashas - except that he was forbidden to attack them. He brought a couple of fingers to his temple, frowning as he watched the Chained Ones in the distance.

They weren't attacking. Why? Naraku could be deceptive and calculating...but he was also very cocky. It was possible that he was simply waiting for their best shot so as to take them down at their strongest. To prove a point, he supposed. Yes, that was probably it. He had discerned their regrouping and plotting and decided to hold off until they launched their new attack. How ignorant of the pathetic hanyou.

The headache was definitely bordering a migraine now and Sesshomaru pushed his hair back, sliding his fingers through it exhaustedly and resting his forehead in his palm. This was ridiculous! This plan needed to be executed immediately, not whenever Sango felt she had all the facts. He spun on heel and let his hand fall from his head, rearranging his features until they were back to their usual calm indifference. Kagome had already finished explaining everything to the other human woman and now the demon slayer seemed to be nodding in firm agreement. Sesshomaru could easily see that there would be no problem with the plan, since Sango was obviously intending to carry it out as planned, so why was this headache only intensifying with every second that passed? He mentally shook it off, choosing to ignore the pain. It was a small annoyance compared to most he'd gone up against.

He made his way back to the group again (but at a leisurely pace, in keeping with his fixed expression) and gave the demon slayer an idle look. "Your decision?" he asked casually, as though it meant nothing to him either way. Sango glared up at him with fire dancing in her brown eyes. With such a spark in them, he nearly mistook her for Kagome. A quick mental jar at that thought left him stupefied. Kagome had such a spark in her eye? Just when had he noticed that...? He involuntarily scowled at himself.

"Like you need to ask?! Give me that sword!" she snapped, her eye flicking towards the Chained Ones. Looking at her brother for motivation, of course. Sesshomaru admired her courage - or was it ignorance? Did she really understand the immensity of the pain that she would have to endure? Splitting one's soul had to be one of the worst sorts of pain a human or demon alike could undergo...

"Do you understand the full impact of your decision?" he asked, unsure why he would even care to begin with. In splitting her soul, the monster would be defeated and the battle won. What did it matter what the human woman would have to suffer through? Sesshomaru glanced to Kagome. And was surprised when he caught her looking right back at him. He didn't look away, but instead allowed his eyes to remain locked with hers, hoping to understand what it was that he was seeing there.

"Yes, I understand!" was Sango's heated reply. Sesshomaru didn't acknowledge her but continued to watch Kagome, who continued to watch him. She had to be worried for her friend, in knowing how it felt to have one's soul torn, and was looking at him with that _look_ because...well, why? Why was she looking at him like that for?

"Sesshomaru? Kagome? Hello, anyone home in there?" was Inuyasha's obnoxious jeer. Sesshomaru recognized Kagome's expression from Sango's earlier description: it was as though she were both happy and sad at the same time. How could anyone feel such a way, much less express it so simply? And, above all, why? Why was she feeling that way right now? She should be sad for her friend's approaching torture; there was nothing to be pleased about!

"Oh! Kagome was telling me about this!" was Shippo's excited cry. Kagome was smiling at the taiyoukai now, the previous expression falling away in an instant. Sesshomaru refused to take his eyes off of her, determined to get to the root of that perplexing _look_. Their eyes remained on one another's, doggedly staring back as though unable to break the connection. She didn't look at all sad now. Which left him with the same question as before: what was there to smile so pleasantly about?! "It's called a Staring Contest!" Shippo's high-pitched explanation was finally enough to break whatever spell they'd both been under as they tore themselves away from the other's eyes and focused back on the topics at hand. Kagome attended to Shippo, while Sesshomaru turned to Sango.

"Very well. I will warn you that if you release the sword before your soul has been entirely separated into halves, then the technique will have to be repeated in order for the Konkatsu to be realized. What you will be tested with is capable of unhinging a full demon's mind - and so it is unlikely that you will be at yourself once this has been - "

"Let me do it," interrupted Miroku. All eyes swiveled to the robed monk as he stepped forward, staff in hand and an expression of sheer resolve over his face. "I don't want Sango having to do this. If all it takes to unlock the sword's power for her is a split soul, then let it be mine." Sesshomaru tacked his gaze to him for a moment, thoughtful, before insinuating,

"And what if the wielder's soul is the only acceptable means?" Miroku looked back at him, silent, and Sesshomaru knew that there was no point in arguing with him. He seemed sure that he was right - and he was.

"Miroku, no. It's _my_ brother. I want to be the one to take the pain for him." Sesshomaru was flabbergasted (only on the inside, of course) at this strange little turn of events. How could these humans _argue_ over who was to experience this unthinkable torture? It was as if they actually _wanted_ to be in pain!

"Sango," Kagome began, attracting everyone's attention at once. Sesshomaru was still pretty floored at Miroku and Sango's fighting over such a lewd task, but he was even more shocked when he realized how easily Kagome received attention when she spoke. Her friends must really respect her. "Sango, the pain is a lot. I _almost_ split my soul a little while ago and it was enough to turn me into a puddle of goo; I couldn't even think, let alone move. I can't even imagine how bad it would be if you split it all the way." Kagome's eyes were unfocused and her forehead wrinkled, telling all who looked upon her that she was recalling a highly unpleasant memory. Sango seemed sympathetic and curious at first, but when she spoke -

"So am I supposed to just give up on Kohaku then? Is that it?" The light returned to Kagome's eyes as she looked to Sango with something of hurt and surprise warring over her features.

"No, that's not it at all, Sango! I'm just saying that, maybe..." she bit her lip, making Sesshomaru stare hard at her. What was it with that little gesture? He watched closely as she worried her lip a bit more before continuing, "Maybe you should let Miroku uncover the Konkatsu for you, after all. You're the only one here who cares enough about Kohaku to use the healing power of Tenseiga, but if you've used up all of your energy by bringing out the Konkatsu, then nobody will be left to use it on Kohaku." Sesshomaru's eyes briefly widened at Kagome's unexpected flash of brilliance. She thought exceptionally fast for a human...

"And besides," came Miroku's voice, stepping forward to Sango. He took her hands in his, his tone and manner serious. "I have to fulfill my vow to you." _I'll save him, Sango. I swear it to you. I'll find a way to save your brother. For you._ Sesshomaru smirked, amused that the monk was really so loyal as to hold up to his oaths. Perhaps he'd given the robed human too little credit. Which reminded him,

"And who's to say that I would allow you to wield Tenseiga, monk? Especially after all of your talk of my not being a teammate?" The monk and demon slayer froze, their hands still joined between them. Sesshomaru frowned at them, not sure whether he was satisfied with their reaction or not.

"Sesshomaru, please..." implored Kagome's familiar voice. Sesshomaru allowed his eyes to fall shut for a moment, slowly reopening them to look at the oddly-dressed human girl. "For Sango, at least? And Kohaku! We've tried for so long to help him..." Sesshomaru regarded her through half-closed eyes, considering her words - which was more than he did for most of the humans he came across.

"Feh! Quit groveling at the asshole's feet, already! It's making me sick over here," spat Inuyasha from the sidelines. Sesshomaru shot him a serrating glare that his half-brother returned in full. "If you're going to let him use the damned sword, then do it! Stop making Kagome beg like that!" Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at him before looking back to Kagome. He was feeling something strange now and it was something that he didn't particularly like, as well. It was as though he was sad, but pitying at the same time. What was it...? He steadied his expression and decided that whatever it was, it made him want to give Kagome what she wanted.

"For Kohaku, then." Not that he'd _admit_ that it was for Kagome. At least not until he figured out why he wanted to give into her so badly...

"Thank-you, Sesshomaru," she said softly, smiling warmly at him. He refused to ponder why the smile had erased the earlier sensation and instead directed his attention to Miroku, drawing his sword and offering him the handle. The monk reached out for it, but paused as the taiyoukai said,

"Remember, do not let go of the sword until the Konkatsu has been achieved. When the sword pulses and the pain ceases, you will know that you have accomplished the technique." Miroku darted his eyes up from the Tenseiga to acknowledge his words, immediately returning them to the hilt of the weapon with a nod. "Grasp the sword," he instructed. Miroku obeyed, instantly falling to his knees on the ground.

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

Kagome watched as Miroku collapsed on the ground, doubling over as she had done when grasping Tenseiga. Sango rushed to his side as he blanched, his eyes wide and unseeing - nothing but pain was crossing his mind at that moment, Kagome knew. He trembled, constantly trembled with the pain, and his jaw suddenly dropped in a silent scream. His vocal chords must have been petrified with agony. Kagome clenched her fist and closed her eyes, standing on the sidelines helplessly. She couldn't do anything more than what Sango was doing...and perhaps it was better for him, the less people that crowded him right now. Poor Miroku...

She felt the tears stinging, but kept her eyes tightly closed so that they wouldn't show. It wasn't going to help make anything easier if she started bawling over it, right? She took a deep, shaky breath as someone came to stand before her. Sesshomaru or Inuyasha, she guessed half-heartedly. Taking another steadying breath, she opened her eyes and looked at the waist of her guest. A sword and an empty sheathe were tied to the person's belt.

"Sesshomaru," she said quietly, more as an affirmation to herself than an acknowledgment. He reached up and put one of his cool, taloned hands to the side of her hot face. The tears were still burning to make their escape, so she took another deep breath and closed her eyes tightly, holding the breath as if it would lock away her tears better.

She felt him step forward and wasn't even surprised when he slid his hand from her face and brought her into a one-armed embrace. She tried to hold them back for a little longer, but when Miroku's disembodied gasp came from somewhere behind Sesshomaru, she felt them pour out onto Sesshomaru's comfortingly-soft mokomoko. She brought her hands up to clutch onto the fluff and his shirt, keeping her eyes closed and just letting herself breathe for awhile.

"I'm sorry...this isn't helping any," she apologized, disappointed in herself at breaking down in front of the one guy who could keep his cool in any circumstance. Well, unless Rin was involved. "I just can't stand to see my friends in pain like that...!" She held tighter to the mokomoko, blinking away the remaining tears. After some time had passed, Sesshomaru spoke.

"Why?" he asked her. Kagome tensed, pulling away from him slightly to look up at him with eyes that were widened ever-so-slightly in surprise. He gazed down at her with genuine curiosity, apparently awaiting an answer. Her eyebrows knit, confused as to how he wouldn't understand.

"Isn't it obvious? It's because - "

"The sword pulsed!" Inuyasha's voice came from just behind Sesshomaru and she jumped. The taiyoukai looked down at her with something of anger or curiosity playing over his features before turning to face the rest of the group, which had been hidden from Kagome's view by the demon lord's broad figure. When he stepped forward, Kagome could see Inuyasha standing there. It looked as if he'd come over with Sesshomaru. He glanced back at her with a worried look and Kagome smiled. "You okay now?" he asked, giving her the once-over. Kagome felt a warm flush pass over her cheeks.

"Yeah, I'll be fine..." He seemed puzzled when she blushed, but immediately adverted his attention to Miroku as Kagome started towards them. Miroku was lying flat on the ground, pale and in a cold sweat that was emphasized by his quivering. Sango had set his head in her lap and was obviously doing her best not to burst into tears as Kagome had.

She wouldn't allow herself to take another step towards the two humans; her eyes were already beginning to well up with fresh tears. She slid her eyes away from them and let them land on the two children, who were hugging each other and squalling. She choked and shook her head roughly, hoping to dispel the tears, and turned herself around and away from the rest of the group. All she could see was Inuyasha and the Chained Ones now.

"Sango, take the sword and save your brother. Miroku will be fine," she said hollowly, her voice low and uneven as she struggled to swallow the tears. One slipped down her face and she scowled, dashing it away as Inuyasha watched her in blatant bewilderment. "Hurry before the Chained Ones decide to attack and one of us are injured! We can't just wait and needlessly risk each other!" There was a long, stagnating pause before -

"Right!" A rustle of clothing and a metallic clang was heard before Sango darted past Kagome, Tenseiga in hand as she ran towards the enemy. "Kilala!" And the two-tail appeared at her side, running alongside her, before Sango leapt onto her back and went flying towards the Chained Ones.

"That barrier's coming down," Kagome said, suddenly determined and drawing her bow and arrow as she aimed for Kohaku. She glanced to Inuyasha to be sure he had Tetsusaiga at the ready. When she saw that he had, she released her arrow with the finesse of a professional archer.

"Wind Scar!" Sango flew above the attacks as they past and quickly resumed her position as they made contact with the "impervious" barrier which flashed out of sight in an instant, just as before. This time, though, Naraku hadn't prepared for what was in store for him. Where he'd only expected them to attack, they had chose to heal.

As Sango threw herself from Kilala's back, plummeting only six or seven feet before gracefully stomping a landing, Sesshomaru snuck behind her and grabbed her up, dashing after Sango in case she was in need of an extra hand. When Kagome glanced over Sesshomaru's fluff-smothered shoulder, she saw that Inuyasha was in close pursuit as well. Kagome focused back on Sango as she stepped forward with Tenseiga in hand.

As Sesshomaru set her down, Kagura performed her infamous Dance of Blades at the unsuspecting Sango - who instantly shielded herself with her hiraikotsu. Guess she wasn't as unsuspecting as Kagome had thought. Luckily, since hiraikotsu wouldn't have been _nearly_ enough to ward off such a powerful attack, Inuyasha had used his Backlash Wave to counter Kagura. The attack flew back at her, but Kanna's mirror was still in play and the attack was simply flung back into the battlefield anyway.

As Sango swung Tenseiga, obviously seeing the pallbearer's imps around Kohaku, Sesshomaru drew Tokijin and sent masses of blue wave-like energy into the regurgitated Dance of Blades. It _and_ the Dance of Blades were then sent sprawling back towards the Chained Ones as Inuyasha performed another Backlash Wave.

Kagome leaned forward to get a look at the two dog brothers, wondering why Inuyasha had used the Backlash Wave twice in a row. He'd never done that before. As Inuyasha and Sesshomaru nodded to one another in silent commendment, Kagome understood: they'd collaborated the attacks. Sesshomaru had told Inuyasha to follow up Tokijin's attack with the backlash wave to send a more powerful attack the Chained Ones' way. However, if it was only going to be thrown back at them...? They couldn't keep using the Backlash Wave! It took energy to keep performing that sort of thing!

But, as Sango lifted up the limp, chainless Kohaku to drape him over Kilala, Kagome understood. The monster was already disbanded!

"Wait! Kagura and Kanna never died, though! Kanna's mirror is still in effect!" Kagome urgently rattled as she desperately grabbed a fistful of Sesshomaru's shirt. He stared down at her as though she were the most idiotic pest on earth - and he did it with a smile, too. Kagome was undeterred. "What're you smiling about?! That attack - !"

"Got 'em!" whooped Inuyasha, a self-confident ring to his tone. Sango flew low overhead, making to land with Kohaku next to the still-freaked Miroku. Kagome craned around to look at the Chained Ones, still clutching Sesshomaru's shirt as though keeping him from escaping while she turned away, and gasped.

"But how could that have happened?! Naraku still has their hearts, so they can't die! That attack should have been flung right back at - !"

"Does everyone here complain when pain is avoided?" Sesshomaru's voice asked from behind her, his hand working at her delicate fingers as he tried to disentangle them. She let him loose as she turned on him. He was smirking, a bemused tone to his voice when he next spoke, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a group of masochists." Kagome had the unbearable urge to hug him right then and she didn't quite understand why. Was she simply relieved that he was acting relatively human for a change? Maybe.

"Chained Ones. Gone. Why?" How she managed to be sarcastic with that insatiable sense of humor that Sesshomaru had just tossed in her face, she didn't know. But she knew one thing, she definitely wanted answers to this unforeseen, very welcome twist of plot. Sesshomaru looked over at the black, charred spot on the grass a few yards away; it looked like those action movies after a helicopter had just exploded or something.

"The Chained Ones were a product of a dark ritual which called for sacrifices. Naraku had to actually _kill_ his incarnations before they could be part of the new monster. I suspect that when his incarnations were facing the exact moment of their deaths, he returned their hearts so that they would be irreversibly murdered. That's why Kanna's mirror did not react to the attack; the Chained Ones had been done in the moment that Kohaku was revived, just as predicted." Kagome nodded comprehendingly, but followed his gaze when Sesshomaru turned to look back at Sango, Miroku, and Kohaku. When Kagome turned, she saw that the children had stopped crying now that Miroku was shakily sitting upright, though with much help from Sango. He still didn't seem at himself and was still shaking like a frightened Chihuahua, but at least his eyes weren't as wide now.

"The pain must have been unbearable. To actually split it in two..." Kagome said quietly. She sensed Sesshomaru looking down at her and raised her head to meet his eye. He was looking down at her with barely-visible puzzlement. "It really hurt when I just _nicked_ mine, so I can only imagine what Miroku must be feeling right now." Sesshomaru's brow lowered and Kagome decided that he must have taken what she'd said as ingratitude. She rushed to make amends. "Er, not that anyone's blaming you for Miroku, though! Thank-you for lending us your sword. I'm really grateful that you'd let us borrow it for Kohaku - and I'm sure Sango feels the same, really!" Sesshomaru seemed to take it as satisfactory and looked away from her, staring at the huddle of humans and children with another expressionless facade. She followed suit, releasing a relieved sigh. She wanted to make sure that Sesshomaru didn't feel insulted since he had been receiving less-than-welcoming treatment from a certain blue-robed monk.

"Perhaps, Kagome, I let them borrow the sword for _you_..." Kagome whipped her head around to get a look at his face, but he was already starting towards Sango and the others to reclaim his sword. Had he really meant that...? He couldn't just be joking about something he'd said so _seriously_! Kagome stopped watching Sesshomaru only when Inuyasha walked past with a,

"You'll catch flies if your mouth hangs open like that for too long..." She then snapped her mouth closed and straightened her posture. She gave herself a few good shakes before squaring her shoulders and walking over to the rest of the group. Sesshomaru...was acting weird, to say the least. But that was no excuse for her to be so openly dumbfounded every time he attempted to say something nice! She didn't want him to stop being so kind because she reacted to stupidly, did she? She smiled. No. No, she really didn't.

But no matter what Sesshomaru said to the contrary, Kagome's belief that love was powerful enough to beat anything had been reinforced by this battle. Sango's love for her brother had destroyed the evil that Naraku had summoned, saved Kohaku from an inevitable and horrid fate, and trumped rock, paper, _and_ scissors in its own game. Why he thought that love was such a foolish thing, Kagome didn't know - but if this hadn't convinced Sesshomaru, she wasn't sure that anything could.


	15. Chapter 15: Trust

**Chapter Fifteen:**_ Trust_

_**Naraku's Point-Of-View**_

She was awake now. It had taken several minutes after Inuyasha's "eviction" from Naraku's tentacle hotel for her to return to consciousness, but Kikyo had eventually reawakened. And Naraku was smiling one of those horrible smiles that endeared him so much to the rest of the world...but Kikyo had always been immune to his charm.

"What have you done with Inuyasha?" she demanded, her eyes steely. Naraku followed her example and ditched the smile.

"Hard and cold again? Strange. Tell me, what happened to the gooey mess you were a moment ago, mm?" Her eyes flashed dangerously, forcing Naraku's smile to return. He loved to torment her... "You seemed quite infatuated with him. It's almost a shame that he would break your heart in such a way."

"What are you talking about?" Naraku's face became serious again as he made a vague gesture at the far "wall" of his inner tentacles. Kikyo shakily propped herself up on her elbows to look. Half of her body had been reduced to a fine powder of clay around her. It was due to the barrier that he'd erected outside of himself that her body was disintegrating; it warded off her Soul Collectors. He looked back to the wall that he'd waved a hand towards and smiled again at the image that had been created there. "Look upon your beloved Inuyasha..."

The picture, projected onto the tentacles by the extracted memory of his saimyousho, was fuzzy to start out but was growing clearer by the moment. And the sharper the image grew, the wider Kikyo's eyes became. Soon the incriminating scene was vividly displayed and Naraku allowed the sneer to dominate his face. Inuyasha was holding the human wench - Kikyo's reincarnation - to his chest and resting his head atop hers.

"Very familiar, wouldn't you agree? Even cozy..." he trailed off, turning his head to regard Kikyo. Then something sort of struck him as her face became pale and lifeless - or more so, considering that she had died over fifty years ago. She was crushed, which had been his aim, but he wasn't entirely satisfied with that. She wouldn't even look at him with the usual contempt. She just went on acting as she had when she'd been lying alongside Inuyasha a few moments ago. Why was she showing such..._feeling_? It was as though she retained some part of her humanity.

And something inside him was responding to that.

Naraku scowled at himself. The strong didn't allow themselves to go soft with silly emotion - towards _anything_, much less a clay-pot woman. Yet, when he stood there and watched the suffering that crossed Kikyo's face, he couldn't help but feel something snap inside of him. It was that blasted Onigumo! That stupid, worthless heart of that greedy human! No matter how many demons he invited into his body, they could not overcome that despicable heart of his past life. And it was threatening to compromise him once again. Just as the small portion of her reincarnation's soul had left Kikyo with a small measure of humanity, Onigumo's heart had done the same for Naraku.

"What, are you going to cry now, Kikyo? Is that the sort of person that you've become?" he jibed, hoping to suppress the loathsome swell that had begun in his chest. She looked up at him, her eyes glinting with malice. "Much better."

_**Kikyo's Point-Of-View**_

It had been less than an hour since Inuyasha had been separated from her, but already he was...well, take a look at that damned picture! She snapped her eyes to it, willing the tentacles that it was presented upon to burst into agonizing, Hell-flames of suffering. But, after several moments of sincere effort, she resignedly concluded that there would be no such luck. She turned the death-glare onto Naraku instead.

"Presumptuous half-breed," she deadpanned, her features as empty as her tone. She applied severe effort to hide her deep disgust when he grinned at the insult as though she'd complimented him. "You never knew who I was to begin with, much less what I have 'become.' You retain no right to assume _anything_ of me." Her brow lowered defiantly as his expression slackened, stepping towards her before promptly turning his back to her completely. Kikyo suspected that he was using a golem to hold this talk with her in "person," although she'd like to have known why they were having a discussion _at all_.

"Would you be interested to know why I killed you?" he asked airily, as though he were commenting on the weather. Kikyo's eyes narrowed in vague distrust.

"And you wonder why people avoid conversations with you," she scoffed lightly. "You have the uncanny ability to choose the most tasteless of subjects..." Naraku had turned slightly to regard her from the corner of his eye, a small ember of flame peering out at her from behind a curtain of untidy hair. He wasn't pleased at her reply, obviously. Well, that was just too bad. Kikyo wasn't up to talking to her murderer about his motives at the moment, if it was all the same to him. If Kikyo had to admit one trait that she shared with Kagome, it would be her impeccable stubborn streak.

"Onigumo desired something that he feared you would refuse to grant him," he began, giving her a pointed look. Kikyo openly offered him her sincerest look of revulsion. He smiled again, making her stomach churn nauseatingly. "Onigumo - _he_ feared, but Naraku does not. When I was born within Onigumo, I decided that I would take you by force if need be. But you became so much attached to the dog hanyou that I simply felt you weren't worth the effort. I decided that I would toy with you and your pet Inuyasha before I ultimately killed you both, alleviating Onigumo's desire. And then you both decided to spring back to life on me. Like weeds, the two of you are..." He smiled as if he were admonishing a small child. She didn't take kindly to patronizing tones.

"You failed miserably in a task that you appear to regard as quite clear-cut. You've just the same as called yourself a simpleton." And then Kikyo allowed her arms to fall to her sides as she plopped herself back down as though preparing to take a nap - though, in truth, she was actually more likely to disappear from the face of the earth, given the state of her clay vessel. She let her eyes fall half-closed, but didn't fancy being entirely blind to Naraku's antics when he was so close to her. Not that she'd have been able to defend herself when she was such a wreck, anyway. He leaned back against the nearest wall of tentacles and tilted his face into the general direction of where the sky might be if they weren't buried in five thousand tons of Naraku-gunk.

"Ah, Onigumo _is_ a simpleton, though, Kikyo. His heart still reaches for you, even as I attempt to destroy it." Kikyo fought fiercely to hide her surprise, knowing that letting her guard down even so much as with an expression would be a mistake in the presence of Naraku. He continued, none the wiser of Kikyo's resolve. "It's such an exhausting obstacle, Onigumo's desire for you. Though I want nothing more than to erase you from existence, Onigumo wishes to keep you for himself for all eternity. It's sheer madness, for one man to both love and despise a person at the same time. Almost as mad as it is having two men in one body." He smiled, but this time Kikyo caught the bitterness - which made _her_ smile.

"Interesting...yet I loathe both of you. One of you is a murderer and the other is a greedy coward." Naraku gave her a wooden look that told her, plainly, that he couldn't have cared less. She supposed that Onigumo's heart was recessive at the moment. "But, I can relate to the insanity. I both hate and love Inuyasha in the exact same way. I have no reason for the hate I feel for him, just as you have no true reason for despising _me_. I love him because I still possess a meager piece of myself - a piece of Kagome's soul. A piece of _our_ soul, I should say." Naraku's blazing scarlet eyes narrowed as Kikyo pressed on. "But we aren't the same sort of people, you and I. The difference between us is that you have easily given in to the greedy, evil side of yourself while I fight to hold on to the love I still have for Inuyasha..." Naraku stepped forward, obviously intending to deliver her a humbling blow (not that Kikyo would _ever_ be humbled by scum like Naraku) when a bright flash from the far wall overcame the room before any response could be made. Perhaps Naraku and Kikyo would have been less confused if _sound_ had accompanied the blast, but as it was, the tentacles were deathly silent.

When the blindingly white light dissipated from the room, leaving the two highly dumbfounded figures to come back to their senses, Kikyo looked to where the light had emitted.

It had come from the now-moving images on the projection that Naraku had summoned.

_**Naraku's Point-Of-View**_

"The difference between us is that you have easily given in to the greedy, evil side of yourself while I fight to hold on to the love I still have for Inuyasha..." For some reason, it infuriated Naraku that Kikyo would confess her "love" for Inuyasha so boldly. He hated to hear it and he hated that he hadn't kept them entirely apart. He stepped forward, intending to (quite frankly) knock the cat piss out of the arrogant mud-pie, when a bright flash left him dazed and in a panic as to what was occurring. Surely Kikyo couldn't access her miko powers in such a state?! But, as the light dimmed away to the comfortable gloom that he'd grown so accustomed to, he realized that it had come from the spell that he'd casted with his saimyousho.

More news had been brought to him.

Inuyasha and Kagome had found a way to infiltrate his barrier while he wasn't looking...and Kohaku had been brought back to life? Naraku's eyebrows knit, enraged, and saw that Sesshomaru had played a part in the battle as well. As a result, Kagura and Kanna's corpses had been blown to smithereens with the Tokijin. It had been his plan to re-absorb his incarnations and give them new life. Now those parts of him were destroyed forever!

He growled low in his throat and decided to move the smug-looking Kikyo and himself to the battlefield by way of transportation. There was no way he was going to let these imbeciles get away with ruining his plans. He'd had nothing but interference from the whole lot of them ever since that Kagome wench had mysteriously appeared about a year ago! He smirked devilishly as he reappeared at the battlefield, in person, with Kikyo lying at his feet.

Kagome was the _real_ problem here.

He was taking her out.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

Sesshomaru lifted his sword from the ground, where it had been forgotten by the ignorant humans, and replaced it to its sheathe. He would have expected them to take better care of his possessions when he lent them out. After all, he didn't do so often.

Miroku was still looking rather green around the gills and immensely distracted by something far in the distance that only he appeared to be able to see. _I just can't stand to see my friends in pain like that...!_ Kagome's tear-stained face was presented before Sesshomaru's steadily narrowing eyes as the memory crossed his mind. _Why?_ She'd looked to him as though he'd asked why the sky was blue. He was intelligent and he asked questions when he didn't know the answers to something. He would accept the truth, regardless of what favor he took to it. But Kagome hadn't been able to answer him because she'd been interrupted by more pressing issues. It was unnerving, to not understand something that a mere human took as second nature. Why was she so afflicted by her friends' pain? Why was he afflicted by Rin's pain? Why did anyone care so much as they did?

And was it only a passing sentiment? Would it be tossed aside the moment a more important person came along, just as had happened with his father?

Sesshomaru allowed himself to glance out of the corner of his eye at Kagome, but found that she wasn't looking his way. She was staring down at Miroku and Sango with great discomfort, visibly worried about their well-being. What if Inuyasha was injured in the exact same way at the exact same time as the monk? Who would she aid first in the event that only she could help them? That was simple: Inuyasha. So perhaps she feels stronger for one person than she does another? Whom might she choose if it were Sango or Miroku, then? If it were Miroku or Shippo? Shippo or Rin?

...Sesshomaru or Inuyasha?

He suddenly felt something boil up inside him as he darted a glower at Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked back at him with blatant confusion, making Sesshomaru realize what he was doing and turn away hastily. What was this feeling? So familiar... It was similar to how he felt on the matter of Inuyasha's inheritance of Tetsusaiga, only different somehow. _Stronger_. His brows knit as he tried to pinpoint the emotion. Then he gave himself a sharp mental shake, forcing himself to ignore the feeling completely.

He was doing it again.

He was dwelling on how he felt _again_.

He grunted before lifting his head straight, determined to focus on the matter at hand. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure what the matter at hand was, exactly. All that seemed to be left to do was aid Miroku back to health - and go after Naraku, if he hadn't already fled the scene once the Chained Ones had been taken down. A whiff of the disgusting half-thing invaded his nostrils, confirming that the battle had not yet ended.

He turned to face what would soon lay behind him.

_**Inuyasha's Point-Of-View**_

'What the Hell is _that_ look for?!' thought Inuyasha as he stared back at his severely-ticked older brother. He'd just all of a sudden decided to snap a scowl on him for no apparent reason! Jeez, did everyone hate his guts today or what? But before he could form his annoyance into a suitably vulgar insult, his brother stopped glaring at him just as quickly as he'd started.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and brooded over his brother's unusual mood swings. What was going on with him lately? It was like he was a whole other person anymore! Inuyasha watched him with severe intensity before deciding that staring much longer would entail his brother's wrath again and stole a look at Kagome, who was pretty torn up about Miroku.

The guy had never looked worse.

His skin was papery and clammy, bearing a sickening resemblance to Naraku's pale complexion, and his eyes were hooded and dull as they stared into deep space. Miroku was critically traumatized.

The monk must have really had a thing for Sango to let himself go through the pain of hacking his soul into pieces. Inuyasha smirked, thinking about how obvious it was that the two should end up together. It was funny how the people _involved_ in a relationship couldn't see it straight off. It was like how Inuyasha and Kagome used to be, having feelings for each other but distancing themselves. He wondered now if Sango and Miroku had been thinking this way about _him_ all those times.

The thought left him peeved, somehow.

Inuyasha was dragged out of his assessing thoughts about his lecherous friend by a stiff grunt from Sesshomaru. Thinking that he was getting another vague and meaningful stare from the taiyoukai, Inuyasha looked up at him - but then Sesshomaru turned around to face the black smudge of earth where the Chained Ones had once hovered. He seemed expectant so Inuyasha followed his example, resting a hand over the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

A bright sphere appeared in the distant afternoon sky, where the sun was now beginning to set, and Inuyasha watched it through suspicious, narrowed eyes. How many times had he received unwelcome visits from his older brother in this same way? Somehow he knew that this, too, would be another disagreeable guest; maybe it was the rotten, sour smell that forced itself on him that had stirred his intuition.

Naraku had landed, in his humanoid form, and stood to block their way from the half-disintegrated body of Kikyo that lay behind him. Inuyasha felt a growl rumble through his chest and throat, instantly mobilizing his body for battle.

"Get away from Kikyo before I _move_ you away!" he threatened, and not idly. Anyone could see he was entirely serious. You could see it in his face as it contorted and disfigured in unbridled rage, in his constant and boorish snarling which escaped him with every breath, and in the way that the bones of his hands jutted out against the skin as he flexed his lethal claws. All that was missing was the blood-red eyes and he would be unmistakable as a savage full-demon. He'd had enough of this gag-worthy mound of phlegm. "NOW!" Naraku laughed out loud, his terrible face moving into a nauseating grin that seemed to work muscles that weren't used often. Inuyasha took a step forward and prepared to throw himself at the mocking hanyou. His brother was at his side in moments, holding an arm out before Inuyasha as if that was all it took to hold him in his place.

"Inuyasha. Do not be lured out like game to a novice hunter. Hold your ground." Inuyasha's expression flickered with surprise for a moment before he snapped his hand out and grabbed hold of his brother's arm. That pissed him off, too. Because Sesshomaru could have easily snatched his arm away in the moment that Inuyasha twitched, but had _allowed_ his younger brother to assault him. He began to dig his claws into his brother's arm.

"I'm not _prey_! Not for Naraku, not for you, and not for _anyone_! Got it?! So stop taking it so easy on me and show me a little respect!" Sesshomaru snatched his arm away from Inuyasha as Naraku's laughter died away. Inuyasha had held on for a few moment's longer so that small, deep scratches had been left on his brother's arm. They'd disappear quickly, of course, as he was full-demon - but it did not deny Inuyasha the satisfaction of making his brother, who'd always underestimated him, bleed. His brother whirled on him, but did not reach out to retaliate. He glared straight into his face and said,

"You'll receive my respect when you earn it. As for this argument," he trailed off as he turned to face Naraku. "We'd best concentrate our energy against our opponent, rather than each other." Inuyasha growled again, but relented his aggressive stance slightly.

"Maybe I don't need your respect, ever think of that?" he spat back, eyes swiveling back to Naraku. It didn't spare him the sight from the corner of his eye, however. His brother's lips had turned up, just slightly, in a knowing smile at Inuyasha's comment. He chose to ignore this event.

"Naraku..." came a boy's voice from the general vicinity of around Inuyasha's waist. He looked down in surprise, thinking of Kagome's younger brother, Souta, for some weird reason. It was Kohaku, however, which left him doubly surprised until he remembered he'd been resurrected a while ago. It was easy to see why Inuyasha had thought it might have been Souta standing there, considering that they were about the same age and height. Kohaku was wearing an expression that had never crossed Souta's face, though. Looking out at Naraku's dark figure, Kohaku openly displayed his resentment and anxiety. "I may have asked to forget, but I never asked for anyone to get hurt. He's despicable..." Kohaku looked up at Inuyasha, but Inuyasha looked away before their eyes met.

"You aren't battling." Looks of incredulous surprise ambushed him from either side - from Kohaku _and_ Sesshomaru.

"What?! I am to! I _have_ to! After everything that I've done, I'm not about to just play the victim!" shouted a furious Kohaku, eyes wide with horror at the prospect of being banished from the battlefield. Inuyasha looked down at him, an expression of stony resilience plaguing his features, before he smirked slightly. The kid had some guts...

"Look, Sango's really relieved to finally get you back, so what d'you think would happen if you got popped off by Naraku after all of this?" Kohaku's face began to take on a note of understanding as Inuyasha determinedly looked back at Naraku. "Sometimes it takes more courage to stand down from a fight than it does to stand up for one." He even surprised _himself_ with that, actually, and started to half-heartedly wonder about it. Just when had he come to think that way, exactly? As far as he could tell, nothing had ever happened in his life where it was more beneficial to abandon a fight than to tough it out. Maybe he was just learning from Kohaku's life experiences. Whatever the reasoning for his new perspective towards battle, he could see how it made sense. And that was really all that mattered.

"Okay," Kohaku answered. Inuyasha snapped his gaze back to the boy, who was looking out at Naraku with real longing. "I won't fight this time. But don't think that it means I'm not going to lend a hand!" When Inuyasha gave him a pressing look, Kohaku sensed it and looked up with equal determination. "I'll keep Miroku from getting attacked until he recovers enough to get back in. I'll evade attacks by keeping the two of us in the air on Kilala." Inuyasha smirked.

"Good thinking. We'll probably need Miroku's Wind Tunnel for this one, so that'd be a lot of help. Get over there and tell Sango and Kagome to get their guards up and stop messing around."

"Right." And then the kid rushed off to relay the message to the girls and half-conscious monk. Now that he thought about it, though, he was pretty much stating the obvious by telling them to get ready for battle. Oh well. Inuyasha had wanted to get the boy out of the way as quickly as possible, so he'd used the first excuse that came to mind. It didn't really matter the importance of what he'd sent the kid to do.

"Do you know what you have to do to become the sort of man that doesn't have to prove anything to anyone?" Inuyasha looked over to Sesshomaru as he spoke, at a loss as to where this was coming from. His older brother glanced to him from the corner of his eye, still facing the enemy who was watching them with vague interest. "Prove everything to yourself first." Inuyasha thought about that. He wasn't sure why Sesshomaru was telling him this now, but it sounded sensible. If he was entirely sure about something then who could shake his state of mind about it? If he were secure about his strength, if he truly believed that he was invincible, would he even be fazed in the moment before death? He would believe that there would be some miraculous turn of events and he would spring back to perfect health or something. If he was secure about it, of course...

"So, what are you trying to say? What does being sure of myself have to do with anything that's happening _now_?" he asked, in a near-daze at this new idea.

"..." But Sesshomaru didn't seem up to talking anymore. It was time to get the battle fired up!

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

"Inuyasha says to stop messing around and get ready to fight, okay?" the young boy said to her and Sango as he approached. Kagome was glaring at Naraku and had barely heard her friend's brother. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked when she continued to stare down the ominously dark figure that stood in place of the former Chained Ones. She knit her brows as she spared the boy a brief glance and a forced smile, her eyes quickly returning to their opponent.

"I'm fine," she replied darkly. "I'm only thinking about Kikyo and the battle. That's all..." She stared at the maimed remnants of the woman she had been reincarnated from. She was just barely clinging to life…and it was Kagome's fault. If she'd only finished off Naraku at some earlier opportunity, then this would never have happened. All of those times that she had fired off her arrows at him, his survival only being owed to her poor aim; if only she had been as skilled with a bow as Kikyo! If only Kikyo would have fought at Inuyasha's side instead of her! Then, maybe, Kikyo would not be in such a precarious predicament. Maybe all of her friends would be unscathed today, had Kagome's presence this last year been replaced with Kikyo's. Kagome looked away from Kikyo's pale form with a sudden jerk, willing another thought, any thought to overcome the painful realizations she was allowing entrance to.

But none came.

Instead, the same hurtful ideas poured into her, charring her morale and confidence. If only it had been Kikyo; if only her friends had been with Kikyo all along; if only she had never met any of them, they would be so much better off. They would be unharmed and free from this pain. She was sure of it.

"Kagome? Are you okay?" It was Sango. Kagome looked over to her with a smile, ignoring her friend's concerned look.

"I'm fine," she repeated, using the same dark tone she had employed with her brother. When Sango did not seem convinced, Kagome opened her mouth to put more effort into reassuring her. But she did not have the chance.

"ARGH!" With a sound between a gasp and a shrill shriek, Kagome and Sango leapt out of the way as Inuyasha soared past them. Naraku had sent an unexpected explosive attack at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru but everyone, it seemed, had been too distracted by their individual conversations to take any notice. It had cost them.

"Kagome," said Sesshomaru as he scooped her up to replace her next to Inuyasha. "Check Inuyasha while I put Miroku and Kohaku to safety." And then he was gone, snatching up Miroku, who had been lying next to Inuyasha, as he went. Kagome watched him go for only a moment before looking back to Inuyasha. He was bleeding copiously from a shallow, but spacious, wound over his right arm. Burnt, Kagome guessed, by the charred appearance of the surrounding skin. She winced. However, it looked as if he would still be fit to battle. He sat up, staring at his arm. There was already a clear, sticky substance forming over the wound, effectively clotting the bleeding.

"Damn. We all talk too much," he said, gently pulling the sleeve of his fire-rat kimono over his damaged arm. He drew his sword as he stood up, Kagome following as she got to her feet as well. He gripped it tightly. "Well, at least it doesn't look like he messed up the muscle. I can still hold my sword all right." He smirked self-confidently, but Kagome knew that the sudden attack had made him more cautious. Maybe, Kagome guiltily found herself thinking, that was what he needed. Better a wound than a death for his inattention.

Kilala flew by, stooping low with Miroku and Kohaku on her back, before gaining height and flying high overhead. They flew in wide circles, much like a buzzard or vulture, as they encased the entire battlefield. Sesshomaru stood before Sango, talking rather rapidly and gesturing towards Inuyasha and Kagome with elegant sweeps of the hand every now and then. Kagome wondered what they were talking about. Inuyasha had been watching the two talking as well and suddenly growled, making Kagome realize that Inuyasha must have been able to hear them with his heightened sense of hearing.

"What are they saying?" Kagome asked, looking at him curiously. Inuyasha continued to stare at his brother and Kagome's best friend.

"Sesshomaru's telling Sango to stick with me so that we can watch out for each other." Kagome blinked.

"So?" She didn't see the problem.

"_So_," he parroted, a dangerous tone about his voice, "that means that he thinks I need to be watched over! And not only that, why the hell is he marshalling all of us like we're his own personal army for anyway?!" Ah, now she understood.

"Inuyasha," she tested gently, "I don't think he means it like that at all. I think that he just wants us to have a support buddy, you know? In case one of us gets ganged up on or something like that; Naraku's snake demons are still swarming the place and everything. And, as for him 'marshalling' us, I think that that's just his natural instincts to lead and all. I mean, your guys' father was a Great Dog Demon, remember? He must have inherited something from him that makes him more suited to be a leader. It's just something he feels like he needs to do, probably." Kagome didn't really know how she knew any of this, but she was near certain that everything she had professed to know was concrete fact. Inuyasha was looking at her with a look that may have been brought about by an invisible slap to the face.

"What's up with you two, anyway? You were gone for four little days and all of a sudden you guys show up all chummy with each other. I don't get it." Kagome thought about it for a moment before turning back around to look towards Sesshomaru, who was looking straight back at them. She sighed.

"I don't get it, either." Inuyasha was silent for a moment.

"You're…friends, then?" Kagome's eyebrows knit.

"I don't know." She heard Inuyasha's feet shift positions as he turned to look towards Sesshomaru, too.

"How can you not know? Is he nice to you? Does he protect you?"

"Well…yeah, he's sorta nice to me. I guess. And he does seem like he protects me, but it's still a little complicated. I think he's only doing those things because I treat Rin well." Inuyasha snorted and Kagome gave him an indignant look. She'd thought they were being serious! "What?" He smirked, eyes shifting to Naraku.

"Nothing. It just seems like it's one big, confusing loop with my brother when it comes to who he cares about. We're sitting here trying to figure out if he's friends with you or if he's only treating you well because you're nice to Rin, but does he really care about Rin? Maybe he treats Rin well for some other reason too. Sesshomaru's just the kind of guy that nobody can be sure about. I think it's safer to assume that he thinks of everybody as his own personal puppets and leave it at that. It's a lot less complicated that way." Kagome sighed and looked away from Inuyasha. Maybe the two brothers didn't get along as well as they could simply because they were too prepared to label the other "simple." It seemed to Kagome that they were both a lot more complex than either brother gave the other credit for.

Sesshomaru suddenly appeared in their midst with Sango held firmly by the arm. She didn't seem to take any opposition to it. Kagome guessed that she felt more favorably towards him after helping her bring her brother back from the dead.

"Inuyasha, I expect you to know what to do, considering that you were eavesdropping on my conversation." Inuyasha didn't show a flicker of remorse as he hitched Sango up on his back and took off towards Naraku. Sesshomaru, alone with Kagome, reached out his hand without expression. "You have a job ahead of you. Do you trust me?" Kagome had thought it would come to this.

"Have you given me a reason not to?" she replied, extending her hand to him. He looked grimly towards his swords.

"Besides killing you, you mean…?" Kagome laughed. Sesshomaru looked back at her, incredulous.

"Sorry, it's just funny to speak lightly of it." He soundlessly flicked his eyes towards Naraku, hoisting Kagome up onto his back with his one arm. They ran at Naraku and Kagome knew if Inuyasha or any of her friends had been told of what Sesshomaru was proposing that she do, there would be a great uprising and argument concerning it. Sesshomaru must have kept it a silent plan all along. Kagome trusted him, however. He would rescue her. "Killing me may have caused me to distrust you – but bringing me back has made me trust you all the more. More than anyone. Despite your reasons…I trust you as a friend." There was a pause before Sesshomaru spoke to her.

"Why are you talking like this now?" He stopped talking abruptly, as though he were corking anything more from escaping his thoughts. It seemed to Kagome that he did that most of the time – but she didn't think that he'd ever had a more difficult time of it than now. And she couldn't understand why. She had a theory, but felt it was nonsensical. He hadn't shown more than a few simple gestures of friendship and even those could be explained away easily enough if she thought on them. It didn't seem realistic of her to assume that he was trying to keep warm words held back from her now. It couldn't be. Why would it be?

"Because if it gets out of your hands, then – "

"It won't." Kagome was taken aback slightly by the absolute certainty of his statement. When she recovered, she began again.

"I hadn't meant to say that you were incapable or anything. It's just…" She didn't have long to get her meaning across. She knew by the fury with which the wind was ripping her hair behind her that they were traveling as fast as humanly – erm, _demonly_ – possible. Her moment to act was nearly upon her. "Sesshomaru, I just wanted to let you know that if something happens and you can't get to me in time, then…then I won't think that you did it because you didn't think enough of me or something. I mean – um, I'll know that you did your best, is what I'm trying to say."

"…" Kagome was unnerved by the silence and rushed to disguise her words.

"Not that…I thought that…you know…we were friends or anything. I just assume that you'll uphold your word as a demon and – "

"Stop." She obeyed. "…"

Between them, the silence was like a canyon that stretched over the seven seas twice over. Kagome was about to open the conversation again, despite Sesshomaru's command, when she realized that they were less than fifty feet away from Naraku, who had already erupted with tentacles and slime. Time to do her thing.

As she moved to throw herself into action from atop Sesshomaru's back, the taiyoukai touched his hand to her arm. Kagome paused to look at him. He didn't look up, but did not move his hand, either. She took another breath and prepared herself for her launch again. Sesshomaru had considerably slowed his pace.

"Don't do it. I change my mind." And he came to a dead stop, a mere ten feet from Naraku.

Kagome's eyes darted down to him as her mouth hung agape, but Sesshomaru was already doing a sort of backwards pounce so as to remove them from Naraku's perilous presence. She clung to the armor that covered his shoulders to keep from falling off of him and soon he stopped, a good fifteen yards from Naraku. He took a moment before turning his head to face her. She was still on his back, so he had to look over his shoulder to see her.

"What are you doing?!" Kagome demanded after a full minute of getting the silent treatment from Mr. Tall, Cold, and Creepy. "Naraku is right over there! You're throwing the whole thing? We don't have time to come up with another plan!" Sesshomaru whipped around suddenly and the next thing that Kagome knew, she was standing upright in front of a towering Sesshomaru. The towering individual mentioned did not appear to be in the best of moods.

"You…" he began, growling the word. His eyes were fiery, though still amber, and they were eerily darkened with shadow. Evening was approaching fast. Kagome was stiff with terror at the strange new rage that had overtaken her companion. "You constantly behave as though we are close friends, as though you trust me, but it is all lies! You cannot trust me where I have not trusted you! You cannot believe I will protect you without fail, when it has been my aim to destroy you and all you have cared for! I am your enemy, yet you call me 'friend!'" Kagome remained still for a moment. Then, her body reanimating itself of its own accord, she cocked her head with a look of angry confusion.

"You're angry at me because I'm saying that you're my friend? You're angry at me because I say that I trust you?" She paused, absorbing his stony, furious expression. Then she started nodding, whirling around on heel to turn her body away from him. "You think I'm a liar, then. You think that I don't mean any of it, do you?" She paused, waiting for a reply. She received nothing.

All at once, she had thumped him on the chest with all her might, hair flying wildly and a sound of agonized frustration emitting from her screwed-up face. Sesshomaru had seized her by the elbows at once. She looked up at him; he looked down at her. Each matched the other's fury and it was a rage infused with frustration and bewilderment towards the very people whose eyes they bore into.

"You really are an ice lord," Kagome suddenly blurted out. It was unlikely that the demon lord's feelings would be stabbed by this comment. Sesshomaru's countenance looked quite amused as he lifted a delicate eyebrow. "I've been nothing short of a friend to you this past week, but you're still going around with that pessimistic attitude of yours!" Sesshomaru still hadn't let go of her elbows and, as his face returned to indifference, he left them there as he spoke.

"As you've mentioned, we've only known each other for a short time. Naturally, I'm skeptical…" Kagome took upon herself a look of genuine puzzlement.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

"Well, what about me has made you skeptical?" Sesshomaru froze. It was a simple enough question - a small thing that required only a small answer. If only he could come up with one… Kagome seemed to catch on to his hesitation.

"So it isn't even about me?!" she yelled, incredulous. "Are you really like this to _everyone_?!" Sesshomaru stopped, thinking about it for a moment. Kagome hadn't ever done anything to make him mistrust her and, as far as he'd known, he'd never treated anyone else with complete unwariness either. Sesshomaru could see that Kagome was waiting for his reply.

"Yes. I'm suspicious of everyone, Kagome." It wasn't something he was used to saying, really, and it felt rather strange to confess. It was like telling someone that bird flew or the sun shone. It was commonplace to Sesshomaru. He expected it was the same for everyone who knew him.

Kagome looked to him sadly, staring at him with undivided interest. He released her elbows.

"Would you _stop_ that, already?! What is it with you and looking at me like that all of the time?" Kagome started, then crossed her arms in a huff as she looked away from him defiantly.

"Hmph! Don't be such a narcissist!" Sesshomaru blinked.

"Narcissist?" This girl had a pretty decent vocabulary on her. "I'm not assuming that you're looking at me because you find me attractive…" She blushed, her face twisting up in anger again.

"Then why are you asking me why I look at you?!" Sesshomaru gave her a strange look, confused as to why the girl would blush at being pointed towards his appearance. Certainly…it hadn't been true? She couldn't be infatuated with him! 'What is this? She's known me little more than a week…' Sesshomaru continued to watch her, pondering…but Kagome didn't want to let him alone now. "WHAT?!" she shouted suddenly. Sesshomaru very nearly jumped in surprise as Kagome glared at him for all she was worth.

"…" He looked off to the side at Naraku, who was receiving the bare minimum of his "attackers'" attention. Sango and Inuyasha were only half-fighting the guy; the other half of their efforts were obviously turned to Kagome and himself. "Why are you shouting? You're distracting our friends." Whoops. That slipped.

"I'm _shouting_ because you're giving me that weird look again!" Sesshomaru was so thankful that she'd overlooked his usage of the word 'friends,' that he virtually forgot to pay mind to what she was saying. He'd caught it well enough, though.

"_I'm_ giving _you_ a weird look?! I've been getting nothing _but_ weird looks from you from the very start of all this!"

"Oh, really? Name one time! I can name fifty!"

"How about after you woke up in my castle, huh? How about that time when you were talking to the doll Rin made you? How about everything you said at that campfire when I brought Kaede up to take care of you? That _smile_ when you realized I'd left my mokomoko around you as you slept? Should I go on?" Kagome was in a near-daze, it seemed, as Sesshomaru watched her face form various looks of understanding as she visited each memory. Then she snapped back to herself.

"Well, how about you when I was having trouble walking that first day, looking for Rin? How about the look you gave me when Rin joined our hands together? And after Kanna…" she trailed off, looking thoughtful. "And after I got so upset over Kanna killing you like that…" Her face formed a peaceful, almost vacant look before warming into a smile.

"You're doing it again," Sesshomaru deadpanned. Kagome came back to herself and smiled at him.

"We're friends whether you like it or not." She stepped up to him and put a hand to his blank face. She smiled warmly. "Now, let's get going."

"Get going where?" he said defiantly. He knew she talking about the plan from earlier, but he also knew that he'd made up his mind against it.

"Look, it has to be done and it has to be done by me. It's too dangerous for demons like you and Inuyasha and it's too deadly for humans like Sango or Miroku. It has to be me."

"No."

"Why not?" She seemed to consider this herself for a moment. Then, more thoughtfully, "No, really, why did you call it off to begin with?" Sesshomaru turned to look at her. This was it. He was right on the same path as his father now. There were forks in the road every two feet, but he kept going straight. So many chances to avoid this mistake and he was, like his father, choosing to bring destruction upon himself…

"Because, I…" He could stop himself now. He knew he could. He just had to say something – anything - noncommittal. "Because, I didn't want to place my friend in danger." Kagome looked surprised for a moment, then overjoyed.

"Sesshomaru!" she shouted. Then she was latched to his midsection, squeezing him with more strength than he thought possible from her tiny form.

"What…why are you so happy for?" He didn't see it. They were friends. Okay. It wasn't like they'd defeated Naraku or achieved world peace or something! But she was still so happy… He reached down and rested his hand on her head, a smile creeping into his immovable features.

When she'd dislodged herself, she looked up at him with solid determination.

"Let's fight." He looked at her uneasily. Then,

"You trust me?" He offered her his hand for a second time. She smiled, the sincerity clear in her voice as she said,

"With my life."


	16. Chapter 16: Awakened Purity

**Author's Note:** So, here's chapter sixteen. You've been waiting for it since November 5th of 2007, but I finally wrote it and uploaded it. The battle should end soon and, with it, the story I've worked on since July of 2006, so I hope everyone who has kept me on alert all these years enjoy the story regardless of the ridiculous wait period. As always, I thank you, my beloved Readers and Reviewers, and hope I won't disappoint. Ja ne!

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****Chapter Sixteen: **_Awakened Purity_

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View **_

It took all his will power just to keep running towards Naraku. He hated this for her. She only ever tried to protect Rin and the only thanks he ever offered her came at this moment, as he delivered her into the hands of a monster. The more he thought on these things, the harder he pushed himself to move on. He moved against every fiber of his own will, racing ever-faster towards the dismal finish line. This act he performed—this deplorable, grotesque, perhaps even _dishonorable_ act...

…his father's mistake paled in comparison to those of his eldest son's.

Kagome shifted on his back, bracing herself for her leap to destiny. He wanted to freeze in his tracks and call out to his younger brother. He wanted to cage her under Inuyasha's guardianship and take over the battle himself. The emotions Sesshomaru once so easily kept at bay now uncontrollably twisted and warped his features. For the first time in his long stretch of existence, Sesshomaru felt torn between rage and a deep sense of helplessness.

She climbed up his spine with her delicate feet, readying herself for the second time since they decided on this perilous course. Sesshomaru desperately…! Sesshomaru, never before to be called desperate, _desperately_ wished to halt in his tracks and retreat once more.

For the sake of a human, this became his truest desire.

Alas, with a gallant thrust, Kagome sent herself airborne and Sesshomaru's choice flew with her. Soaring straight for the waiting tentacles of their enemy, she never saw the Ice Lord lift up his tortured face. She could not sense his harried heart plunging into the deep abyss.

He gazed after Kagome's weightless form as it stretched across the sky, and the realization suddenly struck him: In that moment, she took herself away from him and all the protection invested in him to offer her. She slipped from any safety his reach might grant her.

Some grim chord resonated within his self-petrified heart as he witnessed the writhing vines of Naraku's tentacles greedily snatch her up. The chance to take back his foolish actions no longer remained available. Something felt horribly, irrevocably wrong.

'Do not move. Do not dare to follow her. You cannot follow her,' he chanted to himself – an impromptu sutra to hold himself where he stood. Delaying the plan any further only served to throw the perfect plan askew. And the plan WAS perfect.

_Humans were imperfect and, being such, were only capable of throwing __true__ perfection into chaos. Lord Sesshomaru had been a prime example of how a taiyoukai should behave and rule their lands. And then humans had corrupted that image._

And yet a human stood more willing to follow the necessary procedure to procure victory, while Mighty Sesshomaru trembled with unease. They already decided on this. He must wait. He could not rush to her aid—not yet. He mentally nailed his feet to the ground, clenching his jaw painfully as he watched Naraku's black flesh lethargically swallow Kagome's limp form. It mimicked quicksand, if perhaps many decomposing carcasses putrefied the pool.

Humans threw true perfection into chaos.

Humans corrupted perfection.

Rin and Kagome changed Sesshomaru forever, and whether it meant chaos for him for all eternity or no, the mighty taiyoukai would not ever trade them for the guarantee of a perfect existence. Because, today, Sesshomaru knew that no such perfect existence could be wrought from the absence of the two humans who so completely threw him into chaos.

Naraku took her under with leisurely savor, as though tasting the rarest ambrosia of all. What incomprehensible agony to watch Kagome slip away from him bit by bit—to watch her go somewhere that he must willingly choose not to follow! She stayed quiet, Naraku unsuspecting of why she refused to call out to her friends, and only met his eye for a moment before realizing her mistake. She smiled at him, her eyes set in determination, and immediately closed them when the troubled ache in his eyes could no longer be contained and spread over the rest of his features.

As she blanketed her eyes from his display of utter weakness, allowing the smile to fall from her lips, Sesshomaru thought she looked too much like the martyred Kikyo. It unnerved him to no end until he, too, needed to hide the world from his sight.

The plans he decided upon when conquering an enemy never instilled such vulnerability in him before. However, conquering an enemy never required him to sacrifice one of his own before, either. 'No!' He jolted, alarmed enough at the mere thought that his eyes snapped open as if from a nightmare. 'Fool! Truly, am I not simply sacrificing Kagome to Naraku in order to defeat him?' One human girl against Naraku: The one-sidedness of the match seemed abruptly and blatantly obvious. 'No! I won't allow for this!'

But it was too late. Even as he watched, the last inch of Kagome's pale hand vanished within the glurping muck. Without allowing himself another moment to reconsider, he performed a graceful dive at Naraku. Graceful, yes, but the craze that ignited it echoed the instinct of a starved beast descending upon its prey. He wouldn't allow this! He couldn't! The mighty Lord of the Western Lands declared himself far too dignified and honorable to allow a mere human girl alone to take his place as warrior against his enemy!

Naraku laughed an icy laugh as Sesshomaru drew his sword and began slicing and gouging at the spider hanyou's flesh. The furious youkai hacked massive purple and black chunks from the demon, emboldened by the sick splatters and "thwacks" as the thick, slimy meat fell to the ground around his feet.

And still, Naraku laughed.

Sesshomaru stood back, feasting his eyes on the fruits of his hard work, and felt his hot anticipation cool with disappointment. Against the colossal, ugly heap that was Naraku, only a small portion of his body displayed the results of Sesshomaru's unbridled rage. His eyebrows knit in frustration.

The plan entailed that Sesshomaru follow Kagome when time enough passed for her to complete her task, but if such sincere effort produced so little results…? 'I underestimated the spider hanyou,' he admitted to himself. Now, his conceit while forming this idiotic plan threatened to further endanger Kagome. He could not forsake Kagome, the human girl who counted on him and expected him to uphold his word.

_Sesshomaru, I just wanted to let you know that if something happens and you can't get to me in time, then…then I won't think that you did it because you didn't think enough of me or something. I mean – um, I'll know that you did your best…_

He must find a way to enable himself, lest the miko perish! Somehow, he must find a way to dupe Naraku into admitting him into his flesh… 'The mere thought of being inside this abomination is enough nauseate me.' Sesshomaru slid his eyes up to focus on Naraku's countenance. The smug sneer still wormed over the mutant's pasty features.

Perhaps if he feigned ineptitude, pretended to lose focus at a crucial moment, Naraku might believe that he fairly gained the upper hand. Then, Naraku's flesh would take him in as the hanyou attempted to absorb him into his being. If Sesshomaru and Naraku vaguely shared anything, the Ice Lord believed it must be arrogance. Sesshomaru withheld a cruel smirk, imagining the great torture he could inflict on Naraku once within his very body. As with a parasite, the taiyoukai intended to destroy his host from the inside, out.

He pushed off from the ground with his powerful legs, propelling through the air with the ease of any winged creature, and landed briefly and lightly on a pulsating mound of Naraku's "body." Bounding up towards the core of the malignant terrain, towards Naraku's head, a tentacle swooped down overhead. Out of sheer reflex, Sesshomaru found himself ducking expertly out of the way.

He found it surprisingly difficult to allow Naraku to catch him. Always named champion in battle, his pride felt like birthright. The shame of succumbing to an enemy, even if for his own gain, felt like too miserable a descent. He never wanted to defeat an enemy so intensely that he might compromise his high standard. Nonetheless, if he wished for Kagome's survival, he must fall.

It seemed an eternity of such compromises, the longer he remained beside Kagome.

_**Inuyasha's Point-Of-View**_

"Hiraikotsu!" Inuyasha braced himself to use his Backlash Wave as Sango leapt back down next to him, catching her returning weapon with surprising fluidity for such a slight-figured woman. Naraku hadn't returned a single attack yet and it unnerved Inuyasha to ponder possibilities as to why. He shared a disconcerted glance with Sango before quickly glancing towards Sesshomaru and Kagome. Nose-to-nose in an argument that seemed to be pretty loud, he strained his ears despite knowing they stood out of range. The moment he allowed his curiosity to take hold of him, unfortunately, Naraku decided to attack.

"Look out!" Inuyasha's eyes widened in horror as Naraku belched forth a cloud of poisonous miasma, not at them, but directly above at Kilala. Kohaku panicked and veered Kilala sharply to the right, causing the great beast to tilt precariously and nearly cause the weakened Miroku to slip away to a gruesome death. Forced to flee the battlefield, Kohaku guided Kilala out of sight to wait for the gas to dissipate.

Sango delivered her scream just in time, giving Inuyasha the slim opportunity to stumble back from the noxious gases as they roiled like angry storm clouds over the luscious grass. Naraku's booming laughter told him that, moments from now, the spider hanyou would be attacking them in a way that would leave them absolutely defenseless.

"Inuyasha! The kids! Hiraikotsu!" As Sango's boomerang sliced through the tentacles heading for Rin and Shippo, Ah-Un swept down from out of left field and allowed Rin to quickly hoist the mummified Shippo upon her back, carrying them away from the poison. Inuyasha turned to see if his brother summoned the beast, but when he turned…

...Kagome flew across his vision, heading for a puddle of Naraku's flesh.

"KAGOME!"

The miasma inched towards them, but the air stayed clear there for a moment and neither the airborne Kagome nor the stoic Sesshomaru seemed to notice the pestilence. Kagome dived into the putty-like mound, disappearing into the darkness within seconds. Inuyasha couldn't even move as he watched Sesshomaru's futile attempts to save Kagome from the clutches of the spider youkai.

Utilizing the Wind Scar to dissipate the gases threatened to take out his brother and, possibly, the recently absorbed Kagome (who probably floated somewhere just beneath Naraku's skin.) However, the miasma began to drift uncomfortably close now, so Inuyasha made a split-second decision.

He dashed further into the miasma's perimeters.

"Sesshomaru! Get out of there!" Lividly, Sesshomaru spared him a cursory glance before returning to his useless efforts. "SESSHOMARU!" Inuyasha bellowed, finally making it to his side. Sesshomaru continued to attack Naraku, paying his younger brother no mind at all, until Inuyasha lost all patience and gripped him by the shoulders. Sesshomaru sent him soaring for his trouble.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea as to what has happened, you insufferable half-breed?" Inuyasha was taken aback. Half-breed? _T__hat_ re-entered his brother's vocabulary without warning. Lately, he grew accustomed to Sesshomaru referring to him as "little brother" or at least calling him by name. With no time to waste, Inuyasha quickly shouldered his irritation and attempted to focus on dragging away his brother. The miasma felt like acid in his sinuses.

"Yeah – Kagome got snatched up by Naraku. I _know_. Now, just take off and watch out for the others. I'll get her." Sesshomaru plunged Tokijin into a pulsating sub-mound of Naraku's throbbing boils and stared at its point of entry as though contemplating the vastness of the universe.

Naraku's attacks and even subtle movements, ceased without cause or reason. It was as though he waited for something. Or maybe Kagome did something so notable and malicious within Naraku that she forced him to concentrate on her instead. This did not sit well with Inuyasha, who disliked the idea of Naraku directing his full attention towards the human girl.

The miasma thickened around them now and Inuyasha felt his lungs beginning a struggle that only proved more desperate as the time wiled away. "Get out of here…I can't blow this…shit away…with you standing so damned close by!" It grew increasingly more difficult to breathe the longer he stood there, but Sesshomaru remained completely unaffected.

"Inuyasha," he said evenly, not looking at him, "it is no longer your responsibility to watch over Kagome. The others are your wards now. I shall guard the girl." And with that, Inuyasha's knees became scarcely strong enough to carry his own weight. Sesshomaru made an unusual half-whistle, half-grunt sound that caused the two-headed creature to reappear out of the rapidly-darkening atmosphere and land right next to him. The children no longer rode upon Ah-Un's back, presumably meaning they took cover somewhere outside the venomous smog. Inuyasha became sour as Sesshomaru lifted him up on the beast, as a parent might a child.

"Damn you, Sesshomaru. Why d'you always have to treat me like such a weakling for?" Inuyasha vaguely felt abashed that he asked such a straightforward and awkward question, deciding that the answer would infuriate him even further. Asking his older brother such a thing only served to accentuate his junior rank. He wished Sesshomaru would ignore him.

"Inuyasha, my brother," Sesshomaru began, surprising him so deeply that he met his eye to confirm the older brother's sincerity, "there's no time to say what needs to be said. However…"

Inuyasha began to nod off; Sesshomaru gave a subtle, uneasy sigh as he rushed to find words. Interested enough to fight for consciousness, he heard Sesshomaru calmly explain, "I will not survive this, Inuyasha. I know now that you were never truly weak, but that your constant struggles are due to your infallible loyalty." Sesshomaru frowned, finally turning his eyes upon Inuyasha. "But it is because you are loyal that you never fail, and because of your friendships that your strengths are fortified."

Inuyasha's brows knit, but before another word could be exchanged, Ah-Un lifted him away from his brother. Dizzy with air-sickness and the poison flowing in his veins, Inuyasha wondered half-heartedly if the delirium of near-death spoke every word from his brother's lips.

Because, surely, Sesshomaru would not die.

_**Kouga's Point-Of-View**_

"Kagome…!" Kouga's eyes widened as he looked off into the horizon, his entire pack following suit as they each noticed the mingled scent at once. "Damn it! C'mon!" He tore off into the thick underbrush, quickly taking to the trees to move more deftly. Because of that Inuyasha, Kagome's scent all but completely vanished among the rank stench of Naraku. They already set their course for the battlefield once Naraku's scent pervaded the air, but redoubled their efforts once Kagome's flowery aroma dissipated so significantly.

As Kouga bounded ever closer toward the spider hanyou, other scents became more distinguishable beyond that of Naraku's overbearing odor. Inuyasha, the two human comrades, the fox demon, the unfamiliar scent of a young human boy…the small girl that traveled with Sesshomaru…

…and he sensed Sesshomaru, himself, no doubt in the heart of the battle.

"Kouga! Is Inuyasha really fighting Naraku and Sesshomaru at the same time?" Ginta gasped from his right.

"Is it really wise to interfere?" Hakkaku added, running so fast that his Mohawk laid flat against his otherwise bald head. Kouga growled, darting them both warning glares.

"Don't you guys realize that Kagome's in trouble? Run away if you want! As for me, I'm gonna save my woman!" With a fresh burst of speed, Kouga dropped down from the treetops and surveyed the battlefield from his temporary aerial viewpoint.

What he saw nearly choked the life from him; Inuyasha not only stood outside the battlefield with his group members, but lay unconscious among a huddle of his concerned friends. Stranger still, Sesshomaru fought a limp Naraku by himself from within the thick smog of miasma that only full-demons stood impervious against.

Kagome evaded his eye, but her scent still lingered in the air.

Landing just as his pack arrived from the forest's dark chambers, Kouga sped out to meet Naraku as the last of the sunlight vanished from the horizon. He leapt into the air to deliver a sound kick to the side of Naraku's inattentive head, but felt himself hit a barrier that repelled him with such force that he flew back so far as to land ten feet from Inuyasha.

"Kouga!" They all chorused, abandoning Inuyasha in light of his noisy arrival.

"Damn it, Mutt! Where the Hell's Kag—" Kouga grimaced as he strained the arm he used to lift himself off the ground. It trembled at the elbow and erupted in sharp pain that he innately ignored. "Where's Kagome?" He fixed his gaze upon the monk, as though able to enforce his will upon him through the mere look alone. The monk studied him for a moment, but then his eyes swiveled in answer toward Naraku.

"He absorbed her." Kouga leapt to his feet, eyes widening in uncontrollable rage, and flung himself atop Inuyasha.

"Wake your half-bred, good-for-nothing ass up!" He began swinging his fists without aim and striking Inuyasha across the face without care or thought. The monk and the demon slayer grabbed him by the shoulders, but they could do nothing against his full-demon strength. "You half-wit! Get up and use Red Tetsusaiga already! Kagome's gonna get turned into spider food!" Inuyasha opened his eyes, but Kouga way-laid him one more time, despite. Fucking imbecile.

Inuyasha sucker-punched him back, flinging the wolf youkai off of him in one careless gesture, and rose to his feet. "Where's Sesshomaru?" Kouga kicked him upside the head, leading to a vicious brawl between the two canines as they wrestled each other to the ground.

"You idiot! Don't you mean, 'Where's Kagome?' What the fuck are you thinking?" Inuyasha's jaws closed over his bicep, making Kouga yowl in pain.

"I know where fucking Kagome is! Sesshomaru's the one that needs help rescuing her, you mangy wolf!" Kouga twisted Inuyasha's head around until his neck began to emit soft crackling sounds, making the dog hanyou growl low in his throat.

A sickle dashed between them, encircling Kouga's neck until the chain tightened and he felt himself pulled off of Inuyasha. "Kohaku!" Kouga turned slightly to see the source of the unfamiliar scent he caught as he approached the battlefield earlier: A young demon slayer boy, obviously related to the demon slayer woman, whom called his name.

"Kouga!" Ginta and Hakkaku rushed to his side in aid, but the chain already slackened and Kouga began disentangling himself. Within seconds, the group found themselves surrounded by wolves.

"Tearing each other's throats out isn't doing anything for Kagome." Kohaku's eyes fell beneath the shadow of his bangs, but with a single jerk of the wrist, his weapon returned to him and his eyes met Kouga's. "Join forces already and dig Kagome out of there!" The wolves directed their focus on Kohaku then, snarling and baring their teeth with renewed threat. Kouga slid his eyes to Inuyasha, who brushed himself off with an air of utter insolence.

"Stand down, guys," Kouga grumpily commanded, getting to his feet. "Inuyasha, get Red Tetsusaiga out and let's get Kagome outta there. I'm sick of fucking around with you."

"Keh, as if you'd be of any use! _I'll_ save Kagome!" and the mutt flew past him, shouldering him as a last barb, and took off towards the battlefield with a scarlet blade rising above his head.

"Ginta! Hakkaku! Mobilize the pack!" and then Kouga forced his shard-imbued legs to supersonic speeds as he surpassed Inuyasha in the race toward Naraku.

_**Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View**_

Sesshomaru felt the barrier when it erected, trapping the miasma within. Even if he retrieved Kagome from Naraku's flesh now, her first breath might very well destroy her. Sesshomaru decided that his only option rested in forced entry of Naraku's body. He raised Tokijin overhead and sent a crippling wave of dark energy into Naraku's violet tentacles, leaving a gaping crater behind.

"I will gain entry, one way or another," he murmured to himself, smirking only slightly. He dropped into the open wound without hesitation, immediately re-performing the attack. Very slowly, Sesshomaru began to descend into Naraku's flesh, the wound sealing over his head until all light from the moon above dimmed away. He began to smell something soft and meadow-like, so he immediately began to hack his way in the direction.

"Kagome," he said aloud, ceasing in his attack and listening carefully. "Kagome, speak!" he demanded, his voice loud and potent.

"Inuyasha's older brother…absorbed by Naraku…?" Sesshomaru's eyes shifted to his left only to find Kikyo's face speaking from a wall of flesh. He turned to face her, disappointed to realize that her head remained the only part of her body at this point. She only reached Sesshomaru's eye-level due to her head's embedment within Naraku's blackened boils. "Kagome is three meters before my eyes. She is looking for me, I'm afraid, so please forget you saw me."

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at the disintegrated miko, then he drew his sword. "You choose to expedite my journey to the Other World? It is not your place." Sesshomaru wordlessly inflicted his blow, leaving Kikyo to stare at him with angry, uncomprehending eyes. "You…you did nothing!"

"…" He reached forward and extracted the chunk of flesh from the rest of Naraku, holding Kikyo's living head in his hands without further damaging what remained of her anatomy. He turned to face the direction Kikyo pointed out to him and released another feral strike against the tentacles. "Kagome."

The priestess recovered from her cringing position in the wake of the blast, turning confusedly to find Sesshomaru wielding the head of her ancestor. "Ah! Sesshomaru, this is all that's left of her?" Sesshomaru watched the young miko with his blankest expression yet, but Kagome seemed unconcerned with whether he chose to answer.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kikyo demanded, but with little effect considering her current state. Kagome smiled half-heartedly at her.

"It's a little strange, but Kikyo…" Sesshomaru produced the jewel from beneath his armor, holding it before Kikyo's lips.

"Swallow the jewel," he coldly instructed. Sesshomaru found it natural to relate to Kikyo's near-ghoulish detachment from emotion, having tossed his away despite retaining his soul. Bring so, the taiyoukai understood that Kikyo best identified with straightforward logic. Kikyo closed her eyes, but made no move to comply.

"You've sensed Midoriko's awakening as well, have you?" Kagome winced at Sesshomaru's calculating stare, closing her eyes to avoid it.

"I have." The realization that Kagome withheld something so colossal from him raked his every nerve, but he, too, opted to close his eyes and compose himself. "The jewel, once it meets with the portion of my soul that you carry, will reconstruct your body due to Midoriko's soul which has awoken within the Shikon no Tama. Then, the two of us—ahh!"

Naraku's body suddenly reanimated, quaking as though stricken with thousands of lightning bolts. Sesshomaru forced the jewel into Kikyo's mouth, covering it over with his hand, and clutched Kagome by the waist. Kagome pushed away from Sesshomaru. "Stand back! I'm going to purify an exit!" Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, the only defense he knew against widening them in surprise.

"Foolish girl, you lack the skill!" Kikyo's head complained beneath his arm…but then she erupted in light that scathed Sesshomaru's only good arm. Before his muscles reacted to the sudden pain, the force of Kikyo's sacred powers as she reconstructed sent him flying through Naraku's flesh.

"Kagome!" But Naraku seemed to be finished with watching their tirade. Whatever he spent the battle preparing, now came the time to present it. And so, Naraku no longer wanted Sesshomaru within his flesh.

"Thank you, O' Mighty Sesshomaru," Naraku cackled as Sesshomaru's vision began to clear enough to make out the stars. He flung himself upright as he understood his position—as he felt the grass beneath his burned hand.

His gaze snapped up to Naraku's pimple of a head as it chortled atop the black mass of his body. Inuyasha arrived with his unsheathed Tetsusaiga to his right, while Kouga appeared to his left.

"All I required was the Shikon no Tama you carried in lieu of Priestess Kagome," Sesshomaru grimaced. "And now that I have it, I shall have the wolf!" Suddenly, Naraku trembled as though in an earthquake. "Argh! Wh-What is this?"

_**Kagome's Point-Of-View**_

"Kikyo…" Kagome began, stunned at the other priestess' revived form. "You look…healthier, somehow." Kikyo scowled at her reincarnation.

"Of course I do! I now harbor the spirit of Midoriko, thanks to your foolish plan!" Kagome's eyes widened in shock.

"Is that really so horrible? You've got your form back, so now we can defeat Naraku and—"

"_Two_ souls were expelled to create the Shikon no Tama and _two_ souls were trapped in the jewel, you hasty nit!" Kagome scowled back at her.

"Could you try to explain without all the name-calling? What're you even talking about?" Kikyo surveyed their surroundings as she spoke.

"Have you forgotten Midoriko's opponent, 'Magatsuhi?'" Naraku shuddered once more, with increasing violence, making Kikyo's expression flicker in apprehension. "We cannot speak further here. We must purify our exit."

She snatched Kagome's hand without even a preliminary courtesy, and ordered, "Focus you spirit. Though Midoriko's spirit possesses me, her power is inaccessible without a vessel that harbors a true living soul." Kagome tried to shrug off her daze, closing her eyes and concentrating as she would when firing a Sacred Arrow.

Something snapped within her, immobilizing her as the darkness behind her eyelids exploded in soft, pink light that seemed to spiral into a vortex. Suddenly, she existed only in her mind, and Kikyo stood next to her as though part of a dream. Her ancestor reached out into seeming nothingness, touching her porcelain fingers against something invisible to Kagome.

A woman screamed, and then the scene vanished in blinding white light.

"You will be mine, Kikyo!"

"You will be mine, Midoriko!"

"She's my woman, so get the Hell off of her!"

"Good to know, Mutt! I'll take Kagome!"

"Kagome is not property, Wolf. My ward shall not be touched without her consent."

Kagome opened her eyes, half-laughing at the ridiculous exchange. The end of the world seemed nearer than ever, but each man on the battlefield seemed only interested in fighting for women that they held no right to call theirs.

When Kagome opened her eyes, however, she found Kikyo and herself surrounded by sacred light and still within Naraku, though he seemed to work especially diligently to expel them. How would Kagome hear the conversation of those separated from them through the thick sound barrier of Naraku's boundless flesh?

In an instant, Kagome and Kikyo burst forth from the cavernous innards of Onigumo Naraku, shooting through the night sky like a pink shooting star. Kagome cast her eyes down to see her friends gazing up at them in between executing and deflecting attacks. Kikyo still gripped her hand, her eyes closed and her brow twitching in deep concentration. Kagome knew that if she released her hand, the power used to levitate them in this way would fail, causing them to plummet to their death.

Kagome gripped her ancestor's hand more securely, directing her energy until they landed almost a mile away from the battlefield. As the pink light dispersed, Kagome took her hand from Kikyo's, but the other miko remained unconscious.

"KIKYO!" Inuyasha. He arrived at Kikyo's side with the urgency of a professional baseball player sliding into home base. "Kikyo! Kikyo! Wake up, damn it!" He shook her, seemingly unconcerned with how her body came to be restored, and Kagome watched him with something of pity. She touched her hand to his forearm, making him look at her.

"She'll be fine. She just used a lot of energy." Inuyasha turned back to Kikyo, positioning her in his lap as he knelt to the ground.

"She's warm," he noticed aloud.

"She's alive. For now." Kagome turned all the way around to find Sesshomaru studying the back of his younger brother's head. If Inuyasha also turned to face the taiyoukai, Kagome scarcely noticed.

"Sesshomaru, your arm!" He met Kagome's worried eyes with half-crescent amber, but then he smiled infinitesimally as she examined his wound more closely.

"Alive? You mean, her body isn't made of grave dust any longer?" Inuyasha's voice drifted from behind her with bitter hopefulness that Kagome knew Sesshomaru must crush quickly. Sesshomaru's burn seemed to be the result of the purification within Naraku as Kikyo regained her vessel. Nothing Kagome offered would amend it.

"Kikyo swallowed the half of the Shikon Jewel that Kagome once carried," Sesshomaru began, but then stopped suddenly. Kagome glanced up from her dismal examination to find Sesshomaru giving her a black look that only she could decipher as a meaningful look. 'Right. I never told him about Midoriko.'

"And that's all it took? All this time, we just had to get her to eat half a jewel?" Kagome turned to face Inuyasha, allowing her sadness to show through in prelude to the terrible news she must give. Inuyasha's puppy ears twitched, but then slowly began to droop.

"No, Inuyasha. Lately, I've felt something strange happening to my sacred powers. It felt like they were growing stronger, but I couldn't understand why until earlier today." Kagome opened her mouth to continue, but then turned a steely gaze onto Sesshomaru, willing him to remember. "When you returned to your humanoid form before we fought the chained ones, something happened…when I was there. Do you understand?"

"…" Sesshomaru searched her eyes, but Kagome felt he caught on.

"It was hazy, erm—after I woke up—so I didn't quite understand. I didn't even think about it for a while..." Kagome took a deep breath, "but as Naraku was drawing me inside him, I remembered everything, and I understood. That's why I didn't tell you—I didn't even remember." Sesshomaru closed his eyes.

"I see." Kagome sighed, touching a hand to his arm to pry open his eyes. He gazed at her without comprehension for what he saw in her expression.

"Do you?" she asked carefully. Sesshomaru frowned.

"I sure as Hell don't! What the Hell does any of this shit hafta do with Kikyo?" Kagome turned to face him, suddenly remembering from where the conversation began, but then she saw Kikyo sit upright.

"Kikyo…" Kagome murmured, making Inuyasha whirl around and fall at her side.

"Inuyasha, Midoriko's soul woke within the jewel recently, which meant that when I took the purified jewel into my body, I became Midoriko's willing vessel." Inuyasha stared at her, totally not getting it. "By her power, this body was granted to me, but when this battle ends and her presence leaves this realm…" Kikyo brought her hand to his cheek in a caress meant to console, "…my life, also, shall leave this realm.

Before Inuyasha could react in his usual explosive way, Ah-Un crashed to the ground mere feet from the four of them, sending Ginta and Hakkaku sprawling. Shippo and Rin, by transport of Shippo Blimp, also spent no time with gentle landings; Shippo de-transformed and dropped himself into Kagome's hands, as Rin landed in Sesshomaru's. Sango and Miroku made a bumpy landing ten feet ahead of where the rest of the group stood, Kohaku sitting between them on the two-tail's back. They all converged around Kagome, Inuyasha, and Sesshomaru, talking all at once. Neither Kagome nor Inuyasha could make out what all the fuss was about.

"Silence!" Sesshomaru demanded in a voice few dared to reckon with, effectively quieting the cacophony. "Monk. Speak."

"It's Naraku," Miroku told them, wetting lips that suddenly cracked and bled. His eyes darted from Sesshomaru's cold glower to Kagome, who tried not to look overly concerned. "He's swallowed his half of the corrupt jewel and transformed." Kagome felt the blood rush from her face.

"Into what…?" Sesshomaru asked calmly, his eyes taking a puzzled sweep of her horrified face. Kagome and Kikyo's eyes met and they almost choked on the word as they said,

"Magatsuhi."


	17. On The Shelves

Hey, guys. This story got pushed out of the picture because I'm working toward publication. If you liked RPS, check out my Facebook page to see what I'm doing now. At some point after the book is published, I might work on this in my spare time. :-) Check it out and let me know if my new work is as good as my fanfictions! It's on FB. Just forward-slash and "DeathVows" ;) Don't forget to like the page to show your support!

See y'all on the shelves.


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